Lynda Nugent's Give-Back Birthday

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The Memory Project : A Portrait of Kindness My students often hear me say art is communication. Often what we are communicating is simple- “Here is nice drawing of a hand.” “There is an interesting drawing of an armadillo.” But in this Post-Modern era there is a growing concern among artists as well as our global communities that begs the question, “Do artists, do all of us, have a social responsibility to consider? Should artists, and all of us, use our skills to work for the greater good ... more

The Memory Project : A Portrait of Kindness My students often hear me say art is communication. Often what we are communicating is simple- “Here is nice drawing of a hand.” “There is an interesting drawing of an armadillo.” But in this Post-Modern era there is a growing concern among artists as well as our global communities that begs the question, “Do artists, do all of us, have a social responsibility to consider? Should artists, and all of us, use our skills to work for the greater good of our communities? Of our planet?” Choosing art experiences for my students is a contentious and political act. Typically I give my Advanced Art students an opportunity to explore a political, social, and/or cultural issue that interests them and produce artwork that demonstrates what they learn about their topic. This year, instead of allowing my students to choose, I want them to participate in a unique initiative called, The Memory Project, a program in which students create portraits of and for children in orphanages around the world. The goal of the project is “to inspire caring, friendship, and a positive sense of self”. The Memory Project is a program of My Class Cares, a nonprofit organization registered in the U.S.A. (Section 501c3, ID 20-1802885) In order to achieve the goal for this project, my Advanced Placement Studio Art students will first learn about the war in Uganda. As they learn about the war they will learn about the organization that has created this project. My students will be then be given photographs of real children from a Ugandan orphanage. Their assignment will be to create realistic 8” x 10” portraits to help honor his or her identity and heritage. The completed portraits will be sent as a gift to the children. Next, the children from the orphanage will be photographed receiving their portraits and also invited to create drawings or handprints for my art students. It is my hope that my students will have a greater personal connection to this international concern. I am proposing this to Donor’s Choose because participation in this project is not free. To cover the costs of this effort a sponsor contributes $15.00 per portrait, which helps to pay for the delivery of the portrait to the child at the orphanage, and also the administrative costs of the project. I have 25 students that will participate in this project. Therefore, I will need a total of $375.00 In gratitude for this sponsorship, my students will include the sponsor’s name on the back of the portrait, such as “This portrait is sponsored by Donor’s Choose.” Thank you for considering this opportunity to support my class in this project. I encourage you to visit the website at www.thememoryproject.org if you would like to learn more about it. You are welcome to view an outline of the participation process, or to view quotes from teachers whose students have participated in the past. hide