Lake City art students create memories for children

Four Lake City High School students are using their artistic talents to brighten the lives of children in other countries.

Amanda McDaniel, Estephani Lazo, Heather Stevenson and Alyssa Person are participating in The Memory Project, a unique initiative in which advanced high school art students create original portraits for children who have been abandoned, orphaned, abused, or neglected.

To do this, the art students receive pictures of children who are waiting for portraits, and then work in their art classrooms to create the portraits. Once finished, the portraits are delivered to the children, and the children are then invited to create drawings or write letters to send back to the art students.

Photo from SCNow.com

“Our students have done and excellent job! I am very proud of them,” said art teacher Krystal Gause. “This is a wonderful service-learning opportunity for our students to use their talents to give something to children who have so little. As the art program grows here at our school, I feel confident we will have more participation with growing talents in the future.”

In total, art students from the US, UK, Canada, and Korea have now created more than 30,000 portraits for kids in 33 countries.

There are three fundamental purposes of the Memory Project.

First, given that children who have been abandoned, orphaned, abused, or neglected usually have few personal keepsakes, the purpose of the portraits is to provide them with a special memory of their youth, to honor their heritage and identity, and to help them build a positive self-image.

Second, regarding the high school students who make the portraits, this is an opportunity to open their hearts to children who have endured many hardships, and to promote the value of sharing kindness with others.

Third, by also inviting the children who receive portraits to make drawings for the art students, the intent is to create a meaningful exchange of artistic expression between young people across international boundaries.

This story originally appeared on SCNow.com.