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Missing Children Remembered Through Art
`johnpaulthornton reports, 3h 2m ago
Paintings of Hope Reach Communities for National Missing Children's Day, May 25th.
Los Angeles- Artist John Paul Thornton paints portraits of missing children. For twenty years, he has carefully created hundreds of these paintings, inspired by their faces found printed on disposable fliers. They are colorful, expressive answers to the sad photos that most of us dare not look at. This year, in observance of International Missing Children's day, May 25th, Thornton is mailing his precious paintings to volunteers across the continental United States to raise public awareness about these children's stories, in a way that only art can do.
"This is a project that redefines the rules of what artists can do," says Thornton. My portraits honor the most powerless members of society. I am mailing my paintings to volunteers I have never met. The volunteers will take these children's portraits directly into their communities, their schools, workplaces, libraries, local churches and temples. People will be able to touch the artworks, read about these personal cases and ask questions among themselves about child safety, our current legal system and the true meaning of family in the twenty-first century."
These volunteers, calling themselves "Guardian Angels," come from all walks of life. They are high school students, college students, adult professionals, parents, and grandparents. The one thing they share in common is their connection to activism through the world's largest online internet community for creative people, "deviantArt."
Heidi Chambers, director of marketing at deviantArt headquarters in Hollywood, California, is impressed with the way artist members are responding to the Guardian Angel challenge.
"The Guardian Angel project is a perfect example of deviantArt's slogan, where art meets community.
John Paul Thornton has combined his raw talent and love for activism into an essential movement for change, culminating in the creative relationship between art and social empowerment. By calling on artists to perform similar actions across the nation and internationally, he has gone above and beyond to promote positive involvement at a neighborhood level."
Yes, Internationally. Artists from countries as widespread as Great Britain, Canada, the Philippines and Egypt are beginning to answer the Guardian Angel call to action. They are creating artworks of their own for public viewing, designed to provoke a greater awareness of the missing children issue.
"This message and these efforts are not only relevant on Missing Children's Day," Thornton reminds us. "We must continue to keep these children's memories alive always. There is always hope. And when hope seems lost, there is compassion for these children and the love they inspire."
For more information about the missing children Guardian Angel project, and to see how the paintings are being displayed around communities in America, and the globe, visit John Paul Thornton's official deviantart website: johnpaulthornton.deviantart.com
John Paul Thornton is an artist, educator and author of the book Art and Courage: Stories to Inspire the Artist-Warrior Within. He has created projects with the United Nations Environmental programme, The National Endowment for the Arts and the Tibetan Government-in-exile, in India. He has received awards from the California State Senate and the United States Congress for his programs linking art and community. He lives and works in Los Angeles.
happy birthday Eibo and congrats Dennis!
Anguish 
drawing: 
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Love 
Daily Needs 
and 
for presenting me with features of my work 
weekly contest is 
with her deviation - :thumb161521339: which ranked first among the other talented artists who were chosen! Congrats 
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has so generously created and successfully organized the Guardian Angel Movement; whose intentions are to provide exposure to abducted children on a personal basis. Each child is assigned a Guardian Angel who advocates on their behalf in attempts to bring them home. John's creative spin on this concept is to paint portraits of the children and assign the finish paintings to their respective Guardian Angel. John is also the author of "Art and Courage- stories to inspire the artist-warrior within"
Peaceful 
who won this the feature of the week contest at 
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:thumb157212876: :thumb157754869:
Sta.sh
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