Nearly 300 students = nearly 300 portfolios. Multiply that by the number of art works in a school year and it’s a lot of portfolio storage. Especially when you don’t have an art room!
But where there is a will, there is a way and I’m thrifty so it was just a matter of finding the right size box. I found one large enough to cut in half, creating 2 equal size boxes. I can hold 3 grade levels in each box, which covers all my K-5 classes.
The first year I wrapped them in colorful bulletin board paper. But it wasn’t durable so by the end of the year it was shredded. Over the summer I decided my portfolio storage needed a paint job. I picked out my palette of colors and went to work.
First I coated the boxes in gesso to keep the cardboard from warping.
I decided to paint one box in warm tones (lower grades) and the other in cool tones (upper grades). This also makes a great teaching aid. I started with the lightest color and worked my way from the bottom to the top never cleaning the brush between colors. I love the way it turned out.
I cut cardboard dividers for each of the individual classes. Using the same gradient color idea, I painted each grade divider a different color. It makes it easy to find a class when I’m filing art work.
I’m happy with the finished student portfolio storage and hopefully my boxes will last a few years before I have to come up with a new idea.