MEMORY PORTRAITS
January 14th 2009
Published: March 8th 2009
Published: March 8th 2009
Sherry Berger always brings to her volunteering for Lifestart Foundation something extra special. Her Memory Portrait Project was no exception.
Sherry asked me if it would be ok to take a photo of fourteen women in our disabled group. See previous blog: LIFESTART FOUNDATION WORKSHOP. Her idea was to take the head shot photos back to America and give each of her artist friends one photo, they would then paint a portrait of each woman.
Sherry's artist friends all belong to a not for profit group, click here to read more about this(no name) Art Group (that just happens to be founded by Sherry). Each year the no name Art Group group participates in a unique project for others around the world, this is usually followed by a fundraising event held in Philadelphia, organized by Sherry.
This time Sherry's artist friends were going to paint a memory portrait of each of our Lifestart women. This is such a special and truly wonderful gift on so many levels. Most of the women in our group do not even have a photo of themselves, so to be presented with a gorgeous portrait of themselves was fantastic. Each artist sent a letter and a photo of themselves to accompany their portrait gift that Sherry hand delivered.
Sherry presented the portraits to the women in Hoi An during her volunteering trip in September 2008.
Here is an entry from her blog about this experience........
I’m full swing back into the disabled woman’s workshop that we began back in March 2008. But one of the most exciting aspects of my return was being able to deliver the memory portraits created by women of (no name) Art Group. Click here...( About the project ).
This time I’m happy to post actual video, which really shows the impact of the project. ( apologies from Karen for this amateurish video!)The women were touched beyond words and I was honored to represent the selflessness and talent of our group here in Vietnam. I feel it's proof that sharing one's self, one’s time, talent and skills, is truly priceless.
CLICKE HERE FOR VIDEO: MEMORY PORTRAITS, Vietnam
VIEW THE ARTWORK HERE!
Sherry has already held a very successful Memory Portrait exhibition and fundraiser in Philadelphia. This is very much a transportable exhibition. We are now looking for volunteers and supporters who would be interested in hosting an exhibition/fundraiser in their part of the world.
Currently all of the Memory Portrait exhibition material is in Melbourne, so it would make sense from a postage point of view to kick start this in Australia. The exhibition can serve as an awareness project as well as a platform to sell some of the beautiful products made by the disabled women.
The online business to sell the products that the women are making should be up and running in a few months. In the meantime I have a quantity of beautiful hand made note cards made by the women in this group at my home in Melbourne. If any Lifestart supporters would like to purchase these or could help with the sale of these beautiful cards it would be much appreciated. They are priced at 5 for $20 plus postage.
I return to Vietnam on the 17th of March with Sherry and a fabulous team of volunteers.
Sherry and I will be in Melbourne on the 15th of March. We will be at Lentil As Anything, The Convent, 1 St Heliers Street, Abbotsford. on Sunday the 15th from 2.30pm to 5.30pm. From there we will be at Mecca Bah, 55a New Quay Prom Docklands for Dinner at 6pm.
Anyone who would like to come along and meet up with Sherry or myself is most welcome to join us at either Lentil As Anything or Mecca Bah.
If you are joining us at Mecca Bah could you let me know please. phone Karen 9331 2540 or 0402 132432.
I will bring along the products that the women have made ( cards, scarves and a great wine bottle cover ) this Sunday.
Everything is very reasonably priced ( nothing over $10 ) and it would be lovely to sell out before I return to Vietnam!
Lots of Love from Karen.
www.lifestartfoundation.org.au
LIFESTART FOUNDATION WOMENS WORKSHOP
VIETTOWN
127 PHAN CHU TRINH STREET,
HOI AN. VIETANAM
Don't forget to click on all of the links to get a better visual of the Memory Portraits and ( no name ) Art Group, they are great!
Enjoying the blogs?? Forward them on or subscribe those who you think would be interested in Lifestart Foundation's work.......it's free!
Karen Leonard has resided in Essendon, Australia, all of her life. For the past thirty years she has successfully run a small business in Essendon, The Karen Leonard Music School.
A dedicated traveler since the age of eighteen, Karen has visited many countries. In 2000 while backpacking through Vietnam, Karen met a young street kid and they had an instant connection. He introduced Karen to his world, his fellow street kid friends and their families. It wasn't long before Karen was supporting several street kids by encouraging them back to school and paying their education costs. After retu... full info
| Joined: | October 11th 2006 |
| Status: | BLOGGER |
| Blogs: | 97 |
| Photos: | 1,505 |
| Forum posts: | 12 |
Blog Options
| [blog=277464] | [blogger=24429] |
Vietnam
The conquest of Vietnam by France began in 1858 and was completed by 1884. It became part of French Indochina in 1887. Independence was declared after World War II, but the French continued to rule until 1954 when they were defeated by Communist for...more info
Blogged From
TravelBlog Awards
Find Hotels
| City: | |
| Check In: | Check Out: |
|
|
|
|
Guests:
|
Rooms:
|
Comment on MEMORY PORTRAITS
Comments
Date: 13th March 2009
Better than the Archibald portraits (Australia)
What wonderful portraits. I have met the ladies whose portraits were painted. I can just imagine the atmosphere in the room when they viewed these portraits for the first time - what a special moment this would have been. Congratulations Sherry and your artist friends. it really warms the heart.
From Blog: MEMORY PORTRAITS
Better than the Archibald portraits (Australia)
What wonderful portraits. I have met the ladies whose portraits were painted. I can just imagine the atmosphere in the room when they viewed these portraits for the first time - what a special moment this would have been. Congratulations Sherry and your artist friends. it really warms the heart.
From Blog: MEMORY PORTRAITS
Copyright Notice: All Rights Reserved
The text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (Vietna mum). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (Vietna mum). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Karen Leonard (Vietna mum) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.
Helen Rush
non-member comment
Better than the Archibald paintings (Australia)
I have met most of the ladies whose portraits have been painted by this wonderful group of people in USA - thank you so much for these wonderful images. After viewing the movie on You Tube and seeing these women view the paintings of each other for the first time was fantastic - congratulations Sherry
From Blog: MEMORY PORTRAITS