Heart Gallery - Portraits of Hope
Mission West Virginia is launching a traveling photography exhibit that features portraits of West Virginia’s foster children who are eligible for adoption. In the exhibit, audio of the children’s voices and information about them will accompany each photograph.
The exhibit, named “The Heart Gallery of West Virginia – Portraits of Hope”, seeks to bring a face and give a voice to children who need and deserve the love of a family. By sharing their stories, the Heart Gallery hopes to touch hearts and find families for the children ready for adoption. Recognizing the need to accomplish this goal, photographers volunteered their time and talent to create intimately compelling portraits of some of West Virginia’s waiting children.
The children featured in the Heart Gallery are typically considered the "hardest to place" — those who are older, teens, minorities, and/or in sibling groups. Many of the children featured have waited years for a family to give them a permanent home. Twelve of the one hundred children awaiting adoption in West Virginia will be a part of the gallery.
The goals of the Heart Gallery of West Virginia are to spotlight children available for adoption, recruit families for children featured in the Heart Gallery, and recruit additional foster and adoptive families for West Virginia’s children.
West Virginia photographers, Dewayne and Ginnie Lowther from Parkersburg and John Fluharty from Charleston, have volunteered their time, talent, and services to photograph the children featured in the Heart Gallery. Funding for this project was provided by Wendy’s International, Inc. and Sisters of Saint Joseph.
The Opening Ceremony for the Heart Gallery was held on November 2, 2005 at The Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences. After the Opening Ceremony, the Heart Gallery of West Virginia will be traveling throughout the state.
Current Location:
Charleston, WV
Downtown, in the storefront of the old Stone and Thomas Building on Lee and Dickinson St
(storefront is on Lee St)
Through the month of June
Upcoming Locations
Putnam County Fair
July 12- 19
Our Photographers
The Heart Gallery wishes to extend a special thank you to our photographers for volunteering their time and putting their own “heart” into this project. These photographers are as full of hope and courage as the children they so beautifully portrayed. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts and appreciate their willingness to share their creativity and talents.
Dewayne & Ginnie Lowther--Parkersburg, WV
Dewayne and Ginnie began Photographic Journaling together in 1950 while students at Parkersburg High School. They have actively pursued photojournalism since that time. Their extensive image database of negatives, transparencies and digital images contains photographs not only of people and places within West Virginia and Illinois but also documenting state, national and global events captured in over thirty major cities across the United States.
John Fluharty--Charleston, WV
Born in Charleston, John lived there until he was 18. John is now a student at The University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He is pursuing an Honours MA in Philosophy. John has been a Photographer for six years. He has photographed for the University of St. Andrews newspaper. His work has also been exhibited in several venues in the Charleston area.
Nicki Starcher - Parkersburg, WV
Nicki has been taking photographs for 15 years. She started taking pictures for Parkersburg High School yearbook and newspaper. Nicki has experience in developing, printing, and digital restoration of photos. She takes digital pictures of weddings, portraits of people, sports, and special events such as proms and ROTC balls. Nicki enjoys taking unique pictures of people, and has a passion working with manual cameras.
Paul Bibbee- Parkersburg, WV
Paul has been an avid photographer for over 50 years. He enjoys taking photos of his many travels, landscapes, and portraits. Paul has taught photography for over thirty years and is currently teaching at West Virginia Univeristy at Parkersburg. He is also an active member of the Marietta Photography Club.
Ric MacDowell- Lincoln County, WV
Kim Earl- Charleston, WV
Courtney Bell- Huntington, WV
www.courtneybellphoto.com
Amanda Glass Photography
http://www.amandaglassphotography.com/
Special thanks to our contributors:
* To Wendy’s Restaurants for financial support.
* To the Sister’s of St. Joseph for financial support.
* Lowther’s Photographic Journaling for printing and framing.
* To Photographic Production Services providing developing and printing for minimal cost.
* To Adam Daniels for his graphic and artistic support.
* To area businesses, media and communities for your help in promoting the Heart Gallery.
* To WV Radio Corporation for their constant support of adoption and for lending their voices to the project. (WVAF, WKWS, WKAZ, WCHS, WRVZ, WCAW, WSWW)
* A special thanks to those businesses who have graciously opened their doors to hosting the Heart Gallery exhibit.
* To WVSR-FM for lending their voices and helping with music.
* To the Clay Center for donating space for the Opening Ceremony.
* A special thank you to the WV Department of Health and Human Resources for their support and encouragement for the Heart gallery. We truly appreciate the dedication of the social workers involved with looking at another avenue for finding a permanent placement for the children they work with.