Click the image above to watch a video of Nigerian children receiving their inspiration art
Posted April 24, 2023
Eighth-grade art students at Riverview Middle School made “inspiration art” for children living at an orphanage in Nigeria earlier this year.
“I'm really proud of my students and the kindness they showed through this project,” said art teacher Rachel Blessing.
The effort was coordinated by The Memory Project, a youth arts organization that promotes intercultural understanding and kindness between children around the world. About 300,000 youth in 55 countries have been involved in its school-based programs since 2004.
Each Riverview student was matched with a child from Nigeria and given that child’s photo, favorite color, a few words of description, and his or her dream career. “From that information, we made a piece of art to inspire them and show them that they are important and that people care about them all the way on the other side of the world,” Mrs. Blessing said.
On the back of the art, Riverview students wrote a message to their child and also traced a hand to symbolize reaching out and offering peace and kindness.
“During the artmaking process students were exposed to Nigerian folk and contemporary music along with some Nigerian ‘just so’ folktales and a Nigerian short story,” she said. “All of these things helped us to understand their culture a little better.”
This spring, Riverview received a video from The Memory Project of the children receiving their artwork.
Mrs. Blessing’s students next will be making art for children in Cameroon who have been living through a violent conflict in their region for the past several years.
Learn more:
• See photos of the Riverview students with their artwork.
• Watch a video of Nigerian children receiving their artwork.
• Visit The Memory Project website at https://www.memoryproject.org.
