The Memory Project
Students of Denise Larson, art teacher at Preston High School, with their portraits. Denise has been involved in the project for several years.
Would you like your students’ art to travel the globe?  Would your
students enjoy making gifts for some really special kids?

The Memory Project (www.thememoryproject.org) is an art
service-learning program in which advanced high school students create
portraits for children living in orphanages around the world.

Given that children who have been abandoned, orphaned, abused, or
neglected often have few personal keepsakes, the purpose of the
portraits is to provide them with a special memory of their youth, to
honor their heritage and identity, and to help them build a positive
self-image.  The project also provides an opportunity for young
Americans to open their hearts to children who have endured many
hardships, and to promote the value of sharing kindness with others.

The Memory Project has been featured on national television several
times, most notably when Katie Couric concluded her first broadcast of
the CBS Evening News with a story about the project’s success at an
orphanage in Nicaragua.  The project has also been covered by major
newspapers and magazines throughout the country, all telling the story
of students who have participated.

Participation in the project can be summarized in a 5-step process:
  1. Art teacher signs up for pictures of children waiting for portraits
    and submits the participation fees ($15 per portrait).
  2. Memory Project mails the teacher 4x6" prints of the kids' photos, instructions
    for creating the portraits, and plastic sleeves to protect the
    finished portraits. We also email the teacher digital copies of the
    photos.
  3. The artists then have approximately 3-4 months (or sometimes
    longer) to finish the portraits and mail them to us.
  4. The Memory Project then arranges for the portraits to be delivered to the children
    along with other portraits for that country.
  5. Finally, the Memory Project is almost always able to send the teacher digital pictures showing the portraits in the hands of the kids (except for kids who are no longer at the orphanage).

Several high schools from Iowa have participated, and there is
certainly room for more!  If you are interested in participating with
your advanced high school students, please visit
www.thememoryproject.org.

The Memory Project is a program of the nonprofit organization My
Class Cares.  Since the project began in 2004, more than 20,000
portraits have been produced by high school art students around the
country.
Denise Larson:

I believe that we have been doing Ben's Memory Project for 5 years now.  It is such a neat opportunity for the students!  We are a very small 1A school (trying to hold on!) and the students are always very excited to become "old" enough to take part in this project.  The last couple of years we have had 10 participants.  Last year the portraits went to Burma.  We have had portraits travel to Haiti and El Salvador.  

It is a great opportunity to talk to students about being thankful for all that they have in their lives.  Growing up in such a small town, we certainly understand that some have more possessions that others, but our students are not aware of any child that does not have a "home."  I think this project has opened their eyes to the larger world in which they live and has helped them to appreciate their place in this society.  I guess for them it is a small way to "pay it forward" and use their talents for others.  

The students are so excited when the portraits arrive and they finally get to choose their media in which to create!  They think alot about the child and what he/she goes through each day as they are creating.  It is a humbling experience.  

I always print a picture for each student when Ben emails the child with their portrait photos to me.  The students are very excited to see their "gift" with the child.  I also make a colored print of each student's work for them to keep in remembrance of this wonderful experience.  They always proudly display them at their graduation parties!  

Again, Ben has created such a neat idea to connect the world in a small but meaningful way.