Two Kids Built India's Art Museum, Hit 300K Members

Most children's paintings end up in drawers or forgotten folders after a few days on the fridge. Krish Nawal and Manya Roongta decided that wasn't good enough.

In 2022, the two friends launched the Children's Art Museum of India (CAMI) when they were just 12 and 14 years old. They wanted to create something simple: a place where kids could see their artwork displayed in a real museum, just like professional artists.

The timing made sense. During the COVID pandemic, Krish noticed that adult artists had galleries and digital platforms for their work, but children had almost nothing. Their paintings got praised, pinned up briefly, then disappeared into storage.

"We didn't start thinking it would become a large organization," Krish tells YourStory. "We simply wanted a child to see their own painting in a museum and feel that this space belonged to them too."

What started with friends sharing artwork has exploded into something much bigger. Today, CAMI has attracted over one million website visitors and showcases more than 20,000 paintings. The platform reaches over 200 cities and towns across India.

Krish, now a high school junior, was always drawn to both art and technology. He loved experimenting with ideas and noticed how every child sees the same subject completely differently. One kid draws a tree as just a tree, while another turns it into a story character.

That observation became the heart of CAMI's mission: "By the Children, For the Children, Of the Children." The platform doesn't run competitions because kids don't need another contest to win. They need a space where their creativity can simply be seen and celebrated.

Why This Inspires

CAMI tackles a real problem in Indian education. Art is still treated as an extra activity in many schools, not as valuable learning. Quality art programs and trained teachers aren't available to every child.

The platform fills that gap with free learning videos, especially about traditional Indian art forms. The goal isn't perfect drawings but helping kids explore imagination, observation, and self-expression while connecting with their cultural heritage.

CAMI now hosts digital galleries, creative challenges, school partnerships, and even experiments with virtual reality. The organization proves that when young people see a problem, they don't need permission or a business plan to start solving it.

Thousands of children's paintings now live in a museum instead of gathering dust in drawers.