Autumn Newsletter 2015

Memory Project Newsletter

One face, one story at a time

With nationalism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism on the rise, there has never been a greater need to use our creativity to bridge cultural differences. For more than eight years, The Memory Project Productions has been helping people of all ages feel their place in history and find empathy for each other. We do it by sharing individual stories and connecting to those stories in a personal, hands-on way through art.

The Memory Project's exhibits and workshops begin with the story of a Holocaust survivor and her lost brother told in a clear, beautiful way through her words and her daughter's portraits of the lost boy. Then, people explore their own family stories and follow up by learning to make portraits. Some make pictures of Holocaust victims and others do family portraits. Most people do both. The art technique works for non-artists and artists alike. The experience is engaging: skills are joyfully discovered, faces emerge, stories are shared, and hearts and minds open.

One story and one face at a time, participants discover that we're all part of history and we're all connected.

"Seeing [my daughter's] work and looking at what she wrote actually brought tears to my eyes."-Parent at a Memory Project community exhibit at the Brooklyn Public Library“It has strongly influenced my emotions and my understanding of history through the lens of individual lives. Theses methods and techniques will prove useful in my classes.”
-Teacher at Memory Project workshop in Poland