Seven former IB-Art students who graduated from Notre Dame in May found out this week that their special hand-drawn portraits created as part of the worldwide program known as the Memory Project were finally delivered to a number of disadvantaged children in the South American country of Peru.
“My students kept contacting me over the summer anxiously awaiting word that their portraits arrived in Peru,” said Sandy LewAllen, Notre Dame’s art chair and IB Art instructor. “It really was sweet of them to keep checking to make sure the art got to the kids okay.”
The Memory Project is a unique initiative in which art students create portraits for children and teens around the world who have been neglected, orphaned, or disadvantaged. Given that kids in such situations tend to have few personal keepsakes, project organizers aim to provide them with special memories that capture a piece of their childhood – portable pieces of their personal history. As much as possible, the Memory Project also wants to help the kids see themselves as “works of art.”
“I want to make sure these Christian people and upright citizens who live the mission by using their talents to make the world a better place are called out for their good work,” LewAllen said. “They are Ella Holbert, Sabrina Kloss, Sydney Pauls, Michael Ignagni, Vikram Surendran, Paul Romzek and Luke Mullis. I am very proud of them!”
These now-alums from Notre Dame received photos during this past school year of a number of young children in Peru from which the portraits were made. The artwork was then shipped to Peru and delivered to the children in various locations in that country.
The Memory Project put together a video (available below) that shows the artwork being delivered to the children in Peru.
“The kids who received your students’ artwork all live in a particularly challenged area where many families live in one-room homes with dirt floors and walls of sheet metal,” said Ben Schumaker, founder and director of the Memory Project, which is headquartered in Wisconsin. “Some of the children who received these portraits live in a residential facility operated by a children’s charity. Others are living with one or two parents but receive meals, education, and healthcare from the charity during the day.”
Shumaker said that for all the kids, the portraits will be truly unique.
“These children have very few special belongings, and to receive a handmade portrait in their own image is something none of them will have ever experienced,” he said. “By creating these portraits you will be touching their lives in a very special way, and we truly thank you for all of your efforts.”
Shumaker also said that thanks to the participation fees that were contributed from the schools like Notre Dame that participated in The Memory Project, they were able to make a collective financial donation of $4,000 to help support the childrens’ education.
Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org.
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." The Marist Fathers and Brothers sponsor NDPMA's Catholic identity and manages its educational program. Notre Dame is accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools, the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.