Teenagers from Tower Hamlets in new art exhibition

Rukia. By Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco

Rukia. By Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco

An art project celebrating young people from Tower Hamlets has launched an  exhibition this week to help children and carers  living in poverty. 
 
The exhibition, Fifty Children Fifty Artists, features portraits of young people from Tower Hamlets painted by an array of artists.  A preliminary showcase of 35 portraits opened last night at the headquarters of Winton Capital, an investment management company in west London. An additional fifteen portraits will be completed this year and exhibited next March at Shoreditch Town Hall.
James Burton, who works for the charity Miracles, launched the project last year. He said: The idea came to me after a visit to the National Portrait Gallery – why wasn’t the local community represented on the walls? Could I persuade 50 of the UK’s finest artists to paint 50 children from Tower Hamlets?I worked with local schools as well as with some of our cases to find the sitters and then set about finding the artists.”
But the project is about more than artwork, as Burton hopes to raise £300,000 to help children and carers living in poverty in Tower Hamlets- more than 50% of children in Tower Hamlets live in families where they are dependant on benefits.
He is asking companies and members of the public to sponsor a portrait which they can later keep. There are also artist- signed postcards available to purchase at the exhibition.
Restaurants are also being asked to participate by asking diners to add an extra £1 to their bill to help support the project
The Fifty Children Fifty Artists exhibition is running from 15- 26 September  10:00-14:30 at Grove House, 27 Hammersmith Grove, London W6 ONE
 
To follow the progress of the project or to make a donation visit : http://www.fiftychildrenfiftyartists.com/

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