Utah's
First Heart Gallery
became reality on
November 4th, 2005
A picture is
worth a thousand words!
And that’s what the presenters of
Utah Heart Gallery are hoping.
The unique
exhibit will combine the talents of many professional Utah photographers
to reflect the personalities of foster children waiting to be adopted. In
photo after photo, the unique light in each child—a light sometimes
buried after years of neglect, abuse, and low self-esteem has been
captured through each photographer’s art and talent.
What is even more unique about the
Heart Gallery Utah exhibit is that the pictures showing the children and
teens at their best were taken and donated by the photographers. The hope
is that the photographs will replace the typical mug shot in each child’s
file and capture the spirit and personality of each and result in more of
the children being adopted.
Portraits of 20 children will be on
display. The Adoption Exchange, an adoption recruitment agency for the
state’s Division of Child and Family Services, is presenting the exhibit
through donations of time, services, and money from many sources including
local photographers, framers, law firms, banks, and businesses.
Nearly 130,000 children in the U.S.
public-welfare system are waiting for an adoptive family. Most are eight
years or older. Some of the most difficult children to place are those of
minority backgrounds or in sibling groups. And, sadly, about 19,000
children "age out" of the system every year without ever being
adopted.