This week, the Drawing and Printmaking students began working with “The Memory Project”. “The Memory Project” is a nonprofit organization that invites art teachers and their students to create portraits for youth around the world who have faced substantial challenges, such as neglect, abuse, loss of parents, and extreme poverty.

The goal is to create portraits to help the children feel valued and important, to know that many people care about their well being, and to act as meaningful pieces of personal history in the future. For the art students, this is an opportunity to creatively practice kindness and global awareness.

We received photos of children and teens from global charities operating residential homes, schools, and care centers in a number of different countries every year. This year, we are working with 43 children from Madagascar.

Students will work to create the portraits, and “The Memory Project” then hand-delivers them to the kids. Finally,  a video of each delivery will be shared with all of the art students and teachers involved.

Watch for updates about the images, see our delivery video, and images of the students with the child they drawing. There is a cost to participate in “The Memory Project” to cover cost of mailing photographs and delivery of the artwork. The National Art Honor Society, OHHS NAHS Chapter, provides funding for this project through fundraisers and donations. If you are interested in donating to the fund to help us continue participating in this project, contact Jamie Schorsch at schorsch_j@ohlsd.org. To learn more about the project, view the video below!

Portraits of Kindness from The Memory Project on Vimeo.