“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.

Over the past nine years, Drawing and Printmaking and NAHS students have created over 470 portraits for children in Madagascar, the Philippines, and Syrian refugees in Jordan, Puerto Rico, the Rohingya in Rakhine, Columbia, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Sierra Leone. This year, students at OHHS created portraits for 30 Indian children.

Children in India face a complex set of challenges that affect their education, health, safety, and development. While school attendance has improved, many children, especially in rural areas, still lack access to quality education due to poverty, long travel distances, and inadequate resources. Economic pressures contribute to high dropout rates and force many children into labor, where laws against child labor are inconsistently enforced. Health and nutrition are also major concerns, with many children suffering from malnutrition and limited healthcare access, especially in rural areas. Mental health needs are often overlooked due to a lack of resources. Gender discrimination affects girls in particular, as cultural expectations often push them out of school early and into child marriages. Many children are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, with physical, emotional, and sexual abuse remaining prevalent. Climate change also poses challenges, as frequent natural disasters disrupt schooling, displace families, and impact health, while water scarcity affects hygiene and daily life. The digital divide became especially apparent during the pandemic, as many students lacked access to online learning resources.

Below, you can view the delivery of this year’s portraits throughout various communities in India and experience the impact of art in service of global kindness.

Congratulations to the OHHS Art and Design students whose art was selected as a High Merit piece for the Fall 2024 Celebrating Art competition and publication! Receiving a Top Ten or High Merit award means the art was an exceptional piece. Out of thousands of entries received for the Fall 2024 contest, it stood out as being one of the top 5% submitted. Students who have art selected as Top Ten or High Merit work will receive special recognition in the book as it is displayed as a Top Ten or High Merit piece.

Congratulations to the following students:

From Schorsch’s AP Art and Design 2-D Design and Drawing, and Drawing and Printmaking classes: 

Molly Audretch
Kendalyn Kress
Jackson Mundstock
Jordan Tinsley

The Contemporary Arts Center’s Teen Council recently invited young adults, ages 13-19 to submit original 2D and 3D artwork for a collaborative exhibition in the museum’s Community Gallery.

As teens age out of childhood and begin taking steps toward adulthood, it can be hard to find their place. Finding Your Place features work that celebrates, laments, and expresses all the feelings that fall in between when trying to figure out who you are.

The opening celebration for Finding You Place will take place on February 22 from 1-3pm in the Community Gallery at the CAC.

Congratulations to OHHS Art and Design students Molly Audretch and Lizzie Schreibeis whose works were selected for the exhibition.

Congratulations to the 2 OHHS Art and Design seniors Alysse Niewoehner and Lizzie Schreibeis, whose portfolios of works were 2 of the 13 Semi-Finalists selected from this year’s entries for the 2025 Visual Arts Competition of The Overture Awards.

Alysse and Lizzie, who were nominated by Ms.Schorsch, will compete against 11 other Semi-Finalists from schools around the region. Entries advancing to the finals will be announced on February 17th, 2025.

The Overture Awards Competition is the area’s largest solo arts competition and offers awards in six artistic disciplines: creative writing, dance, instrumental music, theater, visual art, and vocal music. For the 2025 competition, students may win $4,000 (one awarded in each discipline) or a $1000 finalist award. Judges at all levels of the competition are drawn from the professional arts community.

Congratulations Alysse and Lizzie and best of luck heading in the Semi-Finals!