Every year, the Collinsville High School drawing and AP studio art classes, participate in 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.
According to the Memory Project website, “We want the 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, we want this to be an opportunity to creatively practice kindness and global awareness.”
The art students receive photos taken by global charities operating residential homes, schools, and care centers. The art teachers then work with their students to create the portraits which are hand delivered back to the children who were photographed.
CHS Art Teacher Rosemary Dodson says, “This year almost 40 students from CHS participated. The portraits will be delivered by the organization to the children in Madagascar in January. The CHS students will receive photos and a video of the children receiving the artwork.”
Since 2004, Memory Project has created more than 80,000 portraits for children in 35 countries.