HHS Senior Enlists the Talents of the Art Club for the Memory Project

Harrison High School senior Amit Ankawa enlisted her classmates and teachers to participate in the inspirational Memory Project benefitting youth in Peru.

Brought to her by way of Harrison High School math teacher Monica DeBold through her art teachers Lisa Monti and Tracy Gilman, The Memory Project is a nonprofit organization that provides a way for art students across the country to connect with students of all ages across the world who have faced substantial challenges, such as neglect, abuse, loss of parents, violence, and extreme poverty. The Memory Project had two “missions” last year, and the Harrison students were visually introduced to children and teens in a residential community in Peru.

The Harrison High School art students received a full page color print as well as a digital photo and were asked to create a portrait of the Peruvian teen using any medium they would like. Amit Ankawa had always been interested in art and had taken classes at Harrison such as Studio in Art, Drawing and Painting, and is an IB Visual Arts student. She enlisted the participation of other like-minded artistic individuals at Harrison. This project coincided with the drawing and painting curriculum and was worked on by the HHS students during class and after school during Art Club meetings. As Ankawa said, the portraits offered a unique opportunity for collaboration among students and among teachers.

“I was intrigued by the Memory Project and saw it as a way to connect with the world,” said Ankawa. “I loved that by doing what you like to do that you could bring value to others.”

Once the portrait was completed, the HHS artistic photo, the original photo, and a photo of the artist were sent back to the student in a plastic sleeve allowing them to keep this memory forever. For many of these students, it was the first picture they had seen of themselves. The Memory Project organization sent a video of the excited Peruvian teens receiving their portraits.

Ankawa is hoping to enlist the entire nearly 30 member Harrison High School Art Club in this year’s Memory Project. She said the organization is looking to provide Syrian refugees who have been displaced from their home country with portraits this year.

In an example of the arts and science intertwining (STEAM), The Memory Project is also closely associated with Ankawa’s dedication to her Harrison Science Research project titled: “The Effect of a Lifelong History of Major Depressive Disorder on the Progression and Impact of Alzheimer’s Disease Through Various Regions of the Brain.” Ankawa has been researching how brain cells degenerate and die in Alzheimer’s – progressing through the brain leading to the shrinking and loss of functions primarily destroying memory and leading to cognitive decline. She is also researching how many of these patients also suffer or have a history of depression – specifically major depressive disorder.