The Memory Project
Encyclopedia
The Memory Project is a service-learning
project in which advanced high school artists create original portraits for children living in orphanages around the world. To do this, the artists receive pictures of children who are waiting for portraits, and then work in their 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 artists.
. An additional purpose of the project is to raise awareness of the needs and rights of children in orphanages around the world.
, Mexico
, Haiti
, and Nepal
by artists representing various high schools throughout the United States. The next school year, 2005-06, the project continued to spread, and nearly 3,000 portraits were produced for children in numerous countries. On September 5, 2006, the Memory Project was featured at the end of Katie Couric
's debut on the CBS Evening News
. That publicity fueled the project's growth, leading to an annual participation level of 5,000 artists from high schools throughout the United States.
Service-learning
Service-learning is a method of teaching, learning and reflecting, frequently youth service, throughout the community. As a teaching method, it falls under the philosophy of experiential education...
project in which advanced high school artists create original portraits for children living in orphanages around the world. To do this, the artists receive pictures of children who are waiting for portraits, and then work in their 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 artists.
Purpose
One purpose of the project is to provide children in orphanages with special keepsakes that honor their sense of self-identity and build their self-esteemSelf-esteem
Self-esteem is a term in psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame: some would distinguish how 'the self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, the...
. An additional purpose of the project is to raise awareness of the needs and rights of children in orphanages around the world.
History
During the first school year of the project, 2004-05, approximately 500 portraits were produced for children in GuatemalaGuatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, and Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
by artists representing various high schools throughout the United States. The next school year, 2005-06, the project continued to spread, and nearly 3,000 portraits were produced for children in numerous countries. On September 5, 2006, the Memory Project was featured at the end of Katie Couric
Katie Couric
Katherine Anne "Katie" Couric is an American journalist and author. She serves as Special Correspondent for ABC News, contributing to ABC World News, Nightline, 20/20, Good Morning America, This Week and primetime news specials...
's debut on the CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963....
. That publicity fueled the project's growth, leading to an annual participation level of 5,000 artists from high schools throughout the United States.