Students paint pictures of prospective pets to aid Humane Society

When news that cash and donated goods had been stolen from the Cayman Islands Humane Society Thrift Shop reached the Year 4-6 students of the St. Ignatius Catholic School senior art club in mid-May, they quickly decided which charity would be the focus of their community art project.

The only question was the how.

St. Ignatius teaching assistant Aimee Randolph, who heads the senior art club, said the idea behind the project was to find a way to help the community by raising awareness of an issue.

“The idea to reach out to the Humane Society came when the Thrift Shop was robbed and the kids were really reactive to it,” said Randolph, who then set a plan in motion. She called the Humane Society to see if there were any dogs or cats that were up for adoption which, because they were older, had been there for a long time.

The answer was an emphatic “yes”.

“These were animals that don’t get as much attention as puppies and kittens,”
Randolph said.

With the project defined, the students then looked at photos of the dogs and cats available for adoption and chose one they wanted to paint. The efforts of their work were displayed in an exhibit for parents and students on 16 June. The exhibit was combined with a Year 2 and Year 7 project that melded short poems using metaphors from the older students with drawings made by the younger children.

The ‘Paws & Portraits’ exhibit contained a statement that explained its purpose:

“Each artwork tells the story of a special animal who has been patiently waiting for their forever home, brought to life through the compassionate eyes of our young artists. Our senior art club has collaborated with the Humane Society to shine a spotlight on these wonderful companions, using art as a bridge to connect our school community with animals in need.”

Parents and teachers who viewed the exhibit were invited to consider adopting any of the animals, or, if any of the pieces of art resonated with them, to ‘buy’ the artwork with a donation that would be made to the Humane Society.

“What you’re seeing is really out of love more than anything,” said Randolph. “These students really haven’t been trained in painting, so it’s all from the heart.”