Students in Melissa Butler’s art classes at Old Country Road School (OCRS) participated in a very special project this year. The Memory Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating global kindness through art (www.memoryproject.org). American students, like those pictured here from OCRS holding their artworks, exchange artworks with children from countries that are culturally very different from the USA.
(Photo courtesy of the Hicksville Public School District)
For this project, the artworks the students are holding will be sent to students in Pakistan. The intent of the exchange is to promote inter-cultural awareness, break down cultural and geographical barriers and inspire creativity through the universal language of art.
Butler’s students started the project during the 2019-20 school year, but due to COVID-19, the project was not completed until this school year. All participants wrote their first name and age on the back of the artwork, attached a photo of themselves, and traced an outline of their hand. This process allows all participants to see the child with whom they are exchanging art, and to symbolically touch hands across the world.
“Our students took time out of their day to create meaningful heartfelt pieces of artwork that depicted different messages such as peace, friendship, kindness and things that make them happy,” Butler explained. “Thank you to OCRS Principal Laura McConnell and the OCRS PTA for sponsoring the project and allowing the students to exchange with 50 students in Pakistan. This has truly been a great experience.”
Submitted by the Hicksville School District
