MARYSVILLE – Art students at Cedarcrest Middle School have joined the Memory Project, a nonprofit organization that invites art teachers and students to create and donate portraits to youth worldwide.

The portraits go to youngsters who have faced substantial challenges such as neglect, abuse, loss of parents, violence and extreme poverty. Given that youth in such situations usually have few personal keepsakes, the purpose of the portraits is to provide them with meaningful mementos. The project also allows art students to practice kindness and global awareness while enhancing their portraiture skills.

Students at Cedarcrest worked for weeks on seeing shapes of facial features, turning them into form through shading, then received photos of children who are waiting for portraits and then created the portraits. In all, 150 art students will make portraits for 30 children in the Philippines.

Cedarcrest art teacher Laurie Shriver said, ”The Memory Project is one of the most-memorable units for students and the children who we draw.”