Emerson J. Dillon Middle School studio art students have matched their creativity with a greater cause.
The eighth-graders are participating in a program called the Memory Project, in which art students receive a photo of a child who has faced various challenges. EJD students have turned those photos of Peruvian orphans into beautiful portraits in an effort to help the children feel loved and to spread kindness throughout the world.
EJD art teacher Ashley Modafferi said the artwork will be on display at Golisano Children’s Hospital in Syracuse throughout the month of May. The portraits will then be sent to their respective child in Peru as a token of friendship. According to the Memory Project, a video will be made of each delivery so student artists and their teachers may see the reactions.
Modafferi said the project ties in with the eighth-graders’ lessons about the value of drawing and portraiture and discovering more about the culture of Peru.
EJD Middle School studio art students created these portraits based on a color picture of Peruvian orphans sent from the Memory Project. Students learned the value of drawing and global kindness.