Norman — Dr. Kishore Swaminathan’s passion in the business world is matched by the time he has devoted to the arts.
And he made a big payment in time to that devotion in 2001, when he took a one-year leave of absence from Accenture to help co-found Artsonia, an online children’s art museum.
“I always felt that schools focus so much on teaching, but not enough on fostering creative self-expression,” he said. “For me, Artsonia was a labor of love — to give children a global audience for something they did on their own.”
The site, which bills itself as “the world’s largest kids’ art museum,” has nearly 7.5 million pieces of artwork displayed, including more than two million added in the past year.
Typie in “Oklahoma” on the search engine for the site, and 14 Oklahoma exhibits are shown, with dozens of pieces from elementary, middle school and high school students.
The site also has links to a section for teachers with lesson plans and projects submitted by other teachers and parents, a gift shop and a section for parents where fan clubs and chats on students’ work can be accessed.
