Children in Mexico receive portraits Clayton A. Bouton students created in the spring

Memory Project sends special thanks through photos and video

(August 11, 2011)  You may remember the story on the district website back in the spring when Clayton A. Bouton High School's Drawing and Painting II class participated in an international portrait project called "The Memory Project." Students created portraits for children in an orphanage just south of Cuernavaca, Mexico. Principal Imran Abbasi recently received word that the children have received their portraits.

The Humanities Fund kindly provided funds for the entry fee, and Clayton A. Bouton students painted or drew a portrait for a child. The portraits were hand delivered to the children this summer by the program's director Ben Schumaker.

"Participating in this project has given our students powerful insight about themselves and the situations of many children around the world," said art teacher Kristen Wells back in May.

About the Memory Project

The Memory Project is a unique initiative in which art students create portraits (drawings, paintings, digital art, etc) for children and teens around the world who have been orphaned, neglected, or disadvantaged. To do this, the student artists received photos of kids waiting for portraits and then worked from those photos to create the portraits. Next, Memory Project delivered the portraits to the kids as gifts and took photos of the kids receiving the portraits so the artists can see those special moments. The goal of the project is to inspire caring, global friendship, and a positive sense of self.

For more information about the project please visit www.thememoryproject.org.

To view the special video, click here.

To view any of the photos in the photo gallery larger, double click on the photo: