Batavia Elementary Student Named 'Artist Of The Week' By Global Platform

BATAVIA, IL — A Batavia elementary school student was named "artist of the week" by a global online art platform.

Nyneishia Sanjenbam, a fifth-grader at J.B. Nelson Elementary School, was recognized by Artsonia, one of the world's largest collections of student art portfolios, featuring more than 125 million works. Her drawing of a dragon's eye received more than 1,000 votes from users nationwide.

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In choosing what to depict, Sanjenbam said she "went with the flow and searched up some videos of dragon eyes."

"I was amazed that I was selected, and I was so shocked when my art teacher told me about the money prize, and the thing is, I didn't even know this was going on, so that's what made it very shocking," the student said, per a news release.

Since Sanjenbam won, Blick Art Materials gave a gift certificate for $100 to the student's art program and one for $50 to the student.

Sanjenbam's art teacher, Michelle Bach, who has been teaching art for over 20 years, expressed pride in Sanjenbam's achievement.

"I am so excited for my student to be awarded. She was so surprised and excited," she said.

Bach is one of thousands of teachers who use Artsonia, which enables teachers to digitally showcase student art, organize and plan art lessons, and fundraise for their classrooms. The platform donates 20 percent of its revenue to local art classrooms.

Artsonia created the Artist of the Week program 25 years ago to highlight student creativity and engage schools and communities in celebrating young artists. Each week, 12 student submissions are randomly selected from artwork submitted the previous week in four different age groups (pre-K-3, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12) for public voting.