My daughter loves to draw. Just like many 5 year old girls, she starts up Art Clubs with her friends and says she wants to be an artist when she grows up. She recently got this really cool large wooden case filled with art supplies as a gift from her grandmother. She loves to use all the supplies and has been producing numerous pieces of artwork using different mediums. I love it. So creative and so interesting. To store the pieces of work, we three hole punch these pieces of art and place them in a binder for easy viewing.

But what about the really neat, oversized artwork that is meant more for a display? There are a certain few pieces that I want to last forever, but I have no idea of how to store them, until now that is.

I received an interesting email the other day about titled "5 Ways to Preserve and Organize Your Child’s Artwork." In it was some information about a business that specializes in preserving those special works of art. Here are more details: 

Young Masters Helps to Save Memories for a Lifetime

A child’s paintings and drawings are more than just pieces of artwork – they represent a collection of priceless memories. But acquiring these keepsakes over many years leave parents with the dilemma of not knowing how to properly store and organize the collection of art so it remains easily accessible and undamaged. 

Young Masters, a national franchise that showcases children’s artwork on lasting keepsakes while raising money for schools’ critical needs, offers the following tips to help parents keep their kids’ art in mint condition:

• Store at a comfortable temperature.  While you might have free space in your garage or attic, high heat and moisture accelerate the chemical process that result in fading and discoloration of paper.  Your child’s artwork will last longer if stored in a stable environment with a temperature in the range of 60-70 degrees.
• Store in an opaque container.  Transparent plastic containers might seem like a good place to store your child’s artwork, but the effects of light exposure are cumulative and irreversible.  Light promotes chemical degradation in the paper and fades ink which will definitely ruin a masterpiece.
• Use appropriate sized enclosures.  A small drawing stored inside a large box translates to dust inside of the box and added clutter inside your home.  To avoid any damage from light or dust, the enclosure itself should not be much larger than the actual masterpiece.  The container itself should be acid-free as well.
• Organize art in chronological order and by child.  The handling of art with your hands should be kept at a minimum as this speeds up the process of deterioration. Oils from your hands are naturally damaging to paper. Storing your child’s art in different containers and labeling them by child’s name and year can help eliminates the likelihood that you will have to rummage through the art.
• Check on the art regularly.  Check the contents of stored boxes, at least annually, for signs of damage such as mold or pest activity.

About Young Masters

The Young Masters program was founded in 2005 and became a franchised business in late 2008. Currently, 23 Young Masters franchise owners across the country work with art educators in their communities to transform students’ artwork into lasting memorabilia and to help raise funds to support fine arts and other school programs endangered by budget cuts. For more information about the Young Masters franchise opportunity or to sign up for the program, please visit www.youngmastersart.com.

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