Spring Break
Students make childhood keepsakes for orphans
Christi Hang
Issue date: 2/16/07 Section: ARTS
Students in Christina Bain's reflective studio practice class are making a difference in the lives of orphans they have never met.
Bain, of the visual arts faculty, said that students from the past three semesters of her class participated in the Memory Project, a program in which high school and college students create portraits of children in orphanages from around the world. The portraits are sent to the children so they can have some way to remember their childhoods, Bain said.
Two NT students, Michelle King, Hurst senior, and Brendin Alban, Murphy senior, had their work on display in a recent exhibition of Memory Project portraits at the KNEW Gallery in Washington D.C.
"I really like the fact that I had the ability to provide an orphan something they can hold on to," King said.
Ben Schumaker, founder of the Memory Project, said in an e-mail that over 1,000 portraits were sent in and only 30 were accepted to the exhibition.
Schumaker was unable to answer in person because he was in El Salvador delivering portraits, including King and Alban's work, to orphans.
"They were both stunned by the artwork, which captures both of their faces beautifully," Schumaker said. "Indeed, all of Christina Bain's portraits were received with a tremendous amount of excitement."
Bain said that she is impressed by Schumaker's ability to run the organization with only one other person helping him, all while taking trips around the world to deliver the portraits and trying to obtain his Master's degree.
"Ben is very hands-on," Bain said. "He is involved in all aspects of the project."
Schumaker said that he was inspired to create the Memory Project when he was working in an orphanage in Guatemala and saw many problems such as poverty and poor health.
"I wanted to help, but all of those problems take money to fix, and I was just a student," Schumaker said.
In Guatemala, Schumaker said that he met a man who grew up in an orphanage and regretted not having anything to remember his childhood. When Schumaker returned to the United States, he said that he contacted about 100 high school art teachers to ask them to help make portraits for orphans.
Bain, of the visual arts faculty, said that students from the past three semesters of her class participated in the Memory Project, a program in which high school and college students create portraits of children in orphanages from around the world. The portraits are sent to the children so they can have some way to remember their childhoods, Bain said.
Two NT students, Michelle King, Hurst senior, and Brendin Alban, Murphy senior, had their work on display in a recent exhibition of Memory Project portraits at the KNEW Gallery in Washington D.C.
"I really like the fact that I had the ability to provide an orphan something they can hold on to," King said.
Ben Schumaker, founder of the Memory Project, said in an e-mail that over 1,000 portraits were sent in and only 30 were accepted to the exhibition.
Schumaker was unable to answer in person because he was in El Salvador delivering portraits, including King and Alban's work, to orphans.
"They were both stunned by the artwork, which captures both of their faces beautifully," Schumaker said. "Indeed, all of Christina Bain's portraits were received with a tremendous amount of excitement."
Bain said that she is impressed by Schumaker's ability to run the organization with only one other person helping him, all while taking trips around the world to deliver the portraits and trying to obtain his Master's degree.
"Ben is very hands-on," Bain said. "He is involved in all aspects of the project."
Schumaker said that he was inspired to create the Memory Project when he was working in an orphanage in Guatemala and saw many problems such as poverty and poor health.
"I wanted to help, but all of those problems take money to fix, and I was just a student," Schumaker said.
In Guatemala, Schumaker said that he met a man who grew up in an orphanage and regretted not having anything to remember his childhood. When Schumaker returned to the United States, he said that he contacted about 100 high school art teachers to ask them to help make portraits for orphans.
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