Buffalo Grove teacher wins national art leadership award

Christopher Morris, an art instructor at Prairie Elementary School in Buffalo Grove, has been chosen as a recipient of Artsonia's 2020 Art Education Leadership Award.

The award honors pioneers in the art education community who continuously inspire their peers and engage students. Morris' peers and Artsonia selected as one of 15 national winners of this award from among thousands of instructors.

"It is an honor to be recognized as a leader in arts education," Morris said in an announcement of the award. "There are so many art teachers and colleagues that inspire me. It is nice to know that I inspire others too."

Morris has been teaching in Kildeer-Countryside School District 96 for 22 years.

"When I see the art that my students make it reminds me why I became an artist," Morris said. "I want to create lessons to encourage creativity and problem solving while they develop their skills and craftsmanship."

Artsonia is the world's largest online student art museum, with more than 75 million pieces of art. It allows family and friends of student artists create and purchase organic keepsakes from the student art, and then gives back 20% of all revenue to the local art classroom.