The Memory Project-Creating a Kinder World Through Art
Wed, 12/04/2019 - 11:50am
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By Bonnie Kirchman for the Leader-Record
Most of us have at least a small collection of mementos-objects we have saved from our own lives or have been given to us by parents, grandparents, and others. We have collections of photographs showing us as babies, school children, and adults. These remind us of our achievements, our happiest days, and the people who have been important in our lives. They also give us a way to share our story with our friends and children, giving us a sense of being connected to each other.
Children who grow up in difficult situations, facing the loss of their family or their home, or both, may not have any special belongings of their own. War, violence, and poverty greatly reduce their chances of creating happy childhood memories. For these children, it is often unusual to receive special keepsakes.
A group of six talented art students from Clearbrook-Gonvick High School are involved in The Memory Project. This project hopes to touch the lives of young children who are growing up in difficult situations by providing them with a special gift, created just for them. These students are spending a period of months creating portraits that will be sent to the children. The hope is that the portraits will help make positive childhood memories for the recipients and also give them something that is theirs alone to keep.
Art teacher Linda Brown selected students Diana Auginash, Falline Erickson, Danika Harmon, Dayron Phillips, Savanna Rankin, and Jayna Tronnes to participate in The Memory Project. These high school students have had experience in a variety of art classes. They were also willing to commit their time and talents to this project that will take several months to complete.
The Memory Project, based in Middleton, Wisconsin, was started by Ben Schumaker in 2004. While a student at the University of Wisconsin, Ben spent a month at an orphanage in Guatemala. He learned that the children who resided there had very few personal objects that could help them remember and share their own life story. Ben had enjoyed creating portraits for his family in friends while he was an art student. This love help spark Ben’s desire to create an organization where art students, with the guidance of their art teachers, could create portraits for children who were facing substantial life challenges. The portraits would be a way to show support to these children and honor their strength and resilience.
“Creating a kinder world through art” is part of the vision statement of The Memory Project. Ben Schumaker found that the project has had bigger influences than he had imagined. The children who receive the portraits benefit, as they are shown that they are valued and that many people care about them. The Memory Project uses art to create a connection between young people who will likely never meet, fostering feelings of international friendship.
“I have been looking at him so long and drawing him so long I feel like I am getting to know his personality,” Dayron Phillips said of the child he is drawing. “He seems like a nice kid; he might be a little mischievious. I think he is going to be a good man,” Dayron added.
Linda Brown described the process the students are using to create their portraits. Each student received a photograph of a child from Malaysia, and information that includes the child’s first name, age, and favorite color. Ms. Brown’s students used a carbon paper process to help them to break down and study the various shapes that make up the picture of the child’s face. The students have been working on practice portraits using pencil or watercolors. When they complete their final portrait, they will attach the child’s photograph to the back. The art students will also trace their own handprint on the back of the portrait.
“It is like being able to touch the hand of the person who created it,” Ms. Brown said. The finished portraits will be sent back to Malaysia and workers with the Memory Project will deliver the portraits back to the children.
“I have always loved to draw and do artwork,” Diana Auginash said. Diana’s drawing of a five-year-old child from Malaysia reflects her love of art, as well as her talent that she is developing in art classes at Clearbrook-Gonvick school.
Savanna Rankin describes her portrait as “a work in progress”. She started in mid-September, creating a practice portrait. The students are allowed to use any two-dimensional technique to create a 9-inch by 12-inch portrait. Some are choosing to do the portraits in black and white. Others are using colored pencils.
Danika Harmon is using water colors for her portrait. She is creating a portrait for 5-year-old Mei Xi whose favorite color is pink. Danika is experimenting with different techniques in the process of making the portrait. The students are also learning some of the challenges that go along with drawing human faces.
“Younger kids are harder to draw. Their features are softer,” Danika said. As they work on their projects, the students focus on forming the correct facial dimensions. The Memory Project asks the artists to create a picture that shows a true resemblance to the child. Linda Brown is sharing the challenges of this project with these students as she is working on a watercolor portrait of a little girl.
The art students are given a set of rules to follow as they create their portraits. There is some room for creativity, as long as the child’s face is not changed. The students can use their imaginations to create the background of the portrait. They can change the colors of the child’s clothing in the picture they make. The artists can also add some enhancements, such as the ring of flowers Danika added to her child’s hair.
Although Linda Brown’s students may never meet the young children who will receive their artwork, they are creating connections that will last for years. As they spend months studying and recreating the face of one child, that child will become a part of their high school memories, a part of their life story. The young children who receive the portrait will have a way to remember their own life story through a one-of-a-kind gift created by someone far away.