Treasure or Trash?

Why a Good Eye Starts in the Crib

An art appraiser on raising kids who know great art when they see it.

Adapted from an interview with arte (The Korea Economic Daily), August 14, 2026

Two people walk into the same vintage shop. One walks out with a painting worth a fortune. The other walks out with something pretty and worthless. What makes the difference? According to Bella Park, it's an eye for quality, and it starts forming long before a child can talk.

Bella appraises fine art for a living. She's also the founder of ArtsyNest, which makes art-based learning materials for babies and toddlers. She talked with arte about why taste can be taught, and why it's never too early to start.

About Bella
Bella trained at the Korea National University of Arts and earned her MFA at the School of Visual Arts. She spent years in New York designing motion graphics for broadcast, with clients including Amazon, MTV, and Sotheby's. After an MA in Art Business from Sotheby's Institute of Art, she joined the New York appraisal firm Czudej McDonough as a Fine Art Appraiser. There she researches and writes appraisals for museum donations, estate planning, and insurance. She runs ArtsyNest single-handedly.

You went from motion graphics to appraising art. How did that happen?

Working with Sotheby's as a designer got me curious about appraisal. Around the same time, I became a mom and started taking my child to museums and galleries. One day I overheard an older collector talking with her grandson in front of a painting. She asked him why he liked it and what made it good, and the two of them talked through whether to buy it. I couldn't stop thinking about it. That's when I realized a good eye isn't something you're handed. It grows out of everyday time with art, and the questions and conversations that come with it.

Can taste really be taught?

Absolutely. Working in art and design, I've seen that all the hours you spend looking at art become your eye, and eventually your feel for the market. Taking my child to museums also showed me that kids are surprisingly good at spotting a great painting. You can't buy a good eye, but you can build one.

Where do you start?

Not with facts. The goal is to teach kids how to look: to notice details and recognize what's beautiful. So I start with something they already know, which is color. A child who says "I like red" is already responding to art. When that turns into "I saw that red in a painting," they're starting to interpret. Kids who see great art often and learn to describe it in their own words develop real taste. Down the road, whether they're choosing art, jewelry, or a sofa, they'll trust their own judgment.

So what is ArtsyNest?

It's a one-woman brand that makes art-based learning materials for little kids, plus ideas for parents. I do everything myself: picking the artworks, design, production (from finding printers to overseeing manufacturing), marketing, and distribution. For me, art education isn't just about making art. It's about learning to see. That's why the products go beyond painting to include ceramics, clocks, prints, and decorative arts. It's all grounded in the Reggio Emilia approach, which sees the environment as "the third teacher." So far there's the Baby's Art Journey color card set (13 cards) and a set of four accordion books featuring black-and-white animals, emotions, and more.

Each of the 13 color cards pairs a color with a piece from a major museum collection, from oil paintings and prints to ceramics, clocks, and glass. Together they offer a first peek at the categories used at real art auctions.

Walk us through the products.

The color cards introduce 13 colors through masterpieces from real museum collections. The point isn't memorizing color names. It's finding each color in a great work of art, then talking about what that work is: a painting, a print, a vase. They look simple, but they're really a first lesson in collecting.

The accordion books are high-contrast books designed around how babies' vision develops during their first two years, when they grow the fastest.

The accordion books stand open beside the crib like a tiny gallery at baby's eye level. No one has to turn the pages, which makes them especially handy once babies start belly crawling.

How did you develop them?

ArtsyNest started as my thesis at Sotheby's Institute of Art. It was a business plan for an art book series for ages 0 to 2, built on Reggio Emilia principles and research on how newborn vision moves from high-contrast black and white to full color. I also read everything I could find on early childhood art education, American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines, and infant vision studies, and built it all into the products. Add the art history, curation, and appraisal training I got at Sotheby's, and that's ArtsyNest today. I also teach art and color classes with the cards at my child's daycare in New York. I hear right away what works for teachers and kids, and that goes straight back into the products.

Printed with soy-based ink on the thickest card stock available, with rounded corners for safety. They're made to hold up when little hands grab and shake them.

What's next?

I've built a question-generator app, in English and Korean, that helps parents keep the conversation going while their child looks at a painting. Any parent, even one with no art background, can start with a single question like "Where's the darkest spot in this painting? Where's the brightest?" It sounds simple, but it's an easy way to introduce light and shadow. Down the line, I'd love to partner with education platforms. That's part of why I exhibited at Shoppe Object, a home and gift trade show in New York, this August.

Tell us about Shoppe Object.

It's a curated trade show with a real community feel, and buyers from major U.S. retailers and museum shops come through. Brands get exposure both online and in person. My goal was to find retail partners that fit ArtsyNest, like bookstores, museum shops, and children's boutiques. Since the cards feature museum masterpieces, the dream is to see them in those same museums' shops.

How did it go?

ArtsyNest is now in nine museum shops, including two at major U.S. museums. I'm also developing co-branded products with museums and focusing on high-end gift shops.

How to Raise a Child with a Good Eye: Bella's Tips

• Don't try to see it all. At an exhibition, skip the full tour. Three works, really looked at, is plenty.

• Ask open-ended questions. Swap "What's this?" for "What do you see?" so kids can answer in their own words. Don't open with Baroque or Rococo style. Start with what they can see: "Look, that hair is curly like ramen noodles!"

• Describe, don't praise. When your child shows you a drawing, skip "Great job!" and say what you notice: "You used a lot of blue," or "That's a really long line." It helps them see their own choices.

• Hang art low. If you have art at home, put it at your child's eye level: by the crib, near the dining table, or just above where they sit.