Valley City third grader recognized as Artsonia’s “Artist of the Week”

VALLEY CITY, N.D. — An online student art exhibit is recognizing a Valley City third grader for his artwork.

Jefferson Elementary student Camden Larson is Artsonia’s Artist of the Week. He received more than 1,000 votes on Artsonia.com, an online collection of student art portfolios. His teacher Cheri Anderson, who is retiring after more than 40 years, says Larson’s win made her final months of teaching that much more special.

Larson says he’s surprised his clay art project got this much attention.

“I didn’t know that one piece of artwork would turn into something much bigger. I didn’t know if I was going to get enough votes to win,” he said.

On the importance of arts in schools, Anderson said it acts as a stress-reliever for students. She added, “The arts are such a benefit for all the rest of the curriculum. I mean, we build on those things together.”

Larson’s win gets his school a $100 gift card from Blick Art Materials.

His artwork is shown in the video above. You can also view it by clicking here.