Art Students Create Portraits to Celebrate Cleveland Clinic Employees

Throughout the past two months, National Art Honors Society students voluntarily created 20 portraits of Cleveland Clinic – Fairview Hospital employees. 
“National Art Honors Society students mentioned how challenging it was to serve the dear neighbor (which is an attribute of the Academy’s mission) during this pandemic. I thought back to the incredibly powerful portrait creation project for pediatric cancer patients through St. Baldrick’s Foundation in March of 2017. That project had such an impact on our students and the recipients. It occurred to me that a similar approach could be used to honor individuals who have worked tirelessly on the front lines, especially in a healthcare setting like Cleveland Clinic. Students selected their portrait subject from the individuals selected by the Cleveland Clinic - Fairview Hospital by and determined the art medium to create it in, whether that was digital, drawing or painting,” stated Visual Arts Department Chair and teacher Mrs. Tammy Sparks.
The student-artists developed each portrait based on the employee photograph provided by the Cleveland Clinic. Throughout the project, the artists received in-person feedback from their peers, which allowed students to receive evaluations in a workshop style, something they have missed because of previous COVID-19 restrictions. 

“During a National Art Honors Society meeting, we shared that it would be great if we were able to honor essential workers for their dedication, humility and patience during this challenging time. I know firsthand how important their work is—my mom is a nurse and my dad is an essential worker. At Saint Joseph Academy, we are fortunate enough to have wonderful connections to Cleveland Clinic – Fairview Hospital. Their Board of Directors selected individuals from various departments to be honored. I was excited to have the opportunity to make a portrait of Fairview Hospital’s President Neil Smith, DO, as he has been very supportive of Saint Joseph Academy of our Health Sciences Honors Program over the years. He is the only individual who did not know he would be recognized for this project, so it was great to surprise him with this portrait that honors his leadership. We are incredibly grateful to all of those who made sure vital systems continued to work, regardless of the global pandemic,” stated Morgan Jeffries ’21 (pictured above right). Click here for more photos.
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