Newnan teacher saves 1,500 student art pieces online

Coweta teacher digitally preserves student artwork

Madison Hudson, an art teacher at Ruth Hill Elementary School in Newnan, is using a digital program to preserve her students' artwork forever to ensure their masterpieces are never thrown away.

COWETA COUNTY, Ga. - An elementary school art teacher in Coweta County is using an online program to digitally preserve her students' artwork forever, saving parents the guilt of throwing away the projects.

What we know:

Madison Hudson is an art teacher at Ruth Hill Elementary School in Newnan. She is dedicating herself to preserving the projects created by her second-graders in her classroom.

Hudson uses a program called Artsonia to keep the pieces digitally. She slips the creations inside a lightbox, snaps a picture with her cellphone, and uploads it to the site.

"I always tell them that if you want to throw it away, do it where I can't see it. You know, throw it away at home. Don't throw it away in here, you'll make me sad," Hudson said.

Why you should care:

The digital gallery helps Hudson track the children's progress throughout the year. It also helps students build confidence by allowing others to comment on their art and give feedback.

"You know, cause like I have an example for them to follow and when they want to, you know, when they're using their muscles and imagining what their picture could look like, and they're like, 'Miss Hudson, can I add a hat to my deer? Or can I put a bow tie on my snake?' I, you know, I can tell when they're finished that they were really locked in and using their brain," Hudson said.

Big picture view:

The Ruth Hill Elementary collection has grown to over 1,500 individual student pieces. The ultimate goal is to build a gallery of 5,000 pieces of art.

Hudson hopes these digital copies will eventually find their way back to their creators for a renewed appreciation.