To bring an instant smile to your face and warm your heart we start off your week with positive art news about kids who are doing incredible things for others in need. You’ll find out about the compassionate contributions of Youth Art For Healing, an organization that brings art created by youth into healthcare environments, founded by Jan Papirmeister, a registered nurse and artist. You’ll also meet Ava Milukas, an adorable 8-year-old author who helps animals and children through sales of her book. While writing this article I was reminded of this quotation:
“Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven.”
~ Henry Ward Beecher, reverend and social activist
Jan Papirmeister Establishes Youth Art For Healing
Youth Art For Healing www.youthartforhealing.org is a non-profit organization founded by Jan Papirmeister in 2012. As the Executive Director she is dedicated to working collaboratively with schools, hospitals and other healthcare organizations “to bring works of art created by youth into healthcare environments to provide a sense of comfort, inspiration and healing for patients and their loved ones, and healthcare professionals.”
Papirmeister is one of our favorite world changers. She has a background in nursing that spans several specialties including pediatrics, hospice, home health, school health and cancer care navigation. She has always been a person endowed with extraordinary empathy and spirit of generosity. As a child she donated her artwork to an environmental organization, a hospice volunteer group, and a camp for children with cancer. She followed her passion and became a school nurse, where she showed students how to create drawings to decorate the walls of the health office. Then, as a hospital nurse she made the time to sit with patients and created art with them.
Her organization Youth Art For Healing, which is based in Bethesda, MD, provides opportunities for students “to learn about the nature of healing art, the power of art to heal, how to follow guidelines for healing art, the role of the arts in healthcare, and the value of building and strengthening community connections and spirit.” As they share their talent with those in need students become empowered in the realization that they can make a difference.
Papirmeister was awarded a Society for the Arts in Healthcare consultancy grant to bring art carts to patients and their families and staff on the oncology unit. She is also the recipient of two SCORE Awards in recognition for her humanitarian efforts through Youth Art For Healing.
This woman is a shining example of an artist and healer who uses the healing power of art to bring huge benefits to children, patients, their loved ones, healthcare providers, and the community at large. Imagine how instrumental this experience is for them for building character and confidence.
There are several ways you can help support Youth Art For Healing projects. Learn more at http://www.youthartforhealing.org
“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.”
~ Margaret Mead, cultural anthropologist
Ava Milukas, An 8 Year Old, Raises Funds for Charities
Ava Milukas is an adorable 8-year old who started to paint when she was 4 years old. She created her first of several books when she was only 5 years old. Her most recent book is titled Ava’s Guide to Having a Perfect Life. It contains several chapters, including “Your Home,” “Friends,” “Pets,” and “Places” with her illustrations on every page, along with her handwritten text. In the “Friends” chapter, she offers this sage advice: “You should always have friends that are caring, listeners, helpful and kind.”
This softcover bound book is professionally self-published. After printing costs, 100% of the proceeds are donated to Ava’s choice of two non-profit organizations: A Wish Come True, which grants wishes to children ages 3 through 18, who have a life-threatening illness; and the Providence Animal Rescue League, which provides “for the rescue and relief of suffering of homeless animals and perform charitable or benevolent acts for the welfare of animals.”
She serves as a positive role model for children and a reminder for us adults to recall our early childhood aspirations. It’s never too late to revitalize our dreams and make a difference in the world.
To learn more about the book and purchase copies contact Kellie Milukas, Ava’s mother, at the Bow House Studio at kelly@kellymilukas.com.
“All children are artists.
The problem is how to remain an artist once (s)he grows up.”
~ Pablo Picasso
Kids Are Heroes, Inc.
In our Positive Art News series in June I wrote about Kids Are Heroes, Inc., a non-profit organization described as “Kid power changing the world” for young entrepreneurs. It was started by Mary Margaret O’Neill in 2008 when she was only nine years old. Its mission includes: “By sharing the humanitarian efforts of hundreds of kids from all over the world who are actively making this a better planet for all of us, we empower children to effect positive change in the world, among their peers, and especially within themselves.” You can read the article here.
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