Portraits of Hope

Lisa Bernhard reports:

Creative Healing

My heart rose, literally and figuratively, thanks to an organization called Portraits of Hope. It gives disabled and low-income kids the chance to dream big by creating giant works of art -- most recently by painting a blimp!

Founded by artist Ed Massey and his brother Bernie, Portraits of Hope offers creative ways for kids to flex their artistic muscles. Even children with no use of arms and legs can participate: they’re given fruit-flavored paintbrushes to use with their mouths. Truly remarkable.

The Massey brothers’ next endeavor is a huge mural at New York’s Chelsea Piers painted by kids. After that, something to make the Big Apple truly shine: colorful patterns adorning New York City taxi cabs.

As for the blimp (or airship, as they’re formally called), kudos should also go to Ameriquest, who sponsored the project through its Soaring Dreams program.

Anyone looking to contribute to funding after-school projects for kids through these wonderful organizations can log onto portraitsofhope.org or soaringdreams.org.

I read about this today and thought it was a wonderful program and I wanted to share the information with our readers. While, the blimp currently only flies in CA and the next projects will take place in NY, I think it is a great project and perhaps it can spread here as well.