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  LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS TEAM WITH PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS TO RAISE ADOPTION AWARENESS SANTA MARIA, California – September 18, 2008 – Professional photographs of foster and adoptive children and their families will be featured at the Heart Gallery. The project, sponsored by Brooks Institute and Santa Barbara County Child Welfare Services, is designed to raise awareness about foster and adoptive children. The traveling show is a lively, upbeat presentation of photographs designed to help lift the stigma surrounding foster and adoptive kids, along with the families that care for them. Viewers will see the individuality and the unique beauty of each child and of the people who care for them. This is the second exhibit showing extended from the first one that originated at the Brooks Institute's Gallery 27 in downtown Santa Barbara last year. The public is invited to the exhibit's opening in Santa Maria on November 7 from 5 – 8:30 pm at the Santa Maria Juvenile Court located at 4285 California Boulevard. The "Heart Gallery" title refers to a series of photography shows held across the nation of children in each local community. The project started in a New Mexico social services agency and has grown to include similar projects in 40 states. Many of those states have held multiple shows each year. Much of the Heart Gallery's support is derived from donations and volunteer efforts. Brooks Institute alumni and faculty members donated their time to shoot and edit the pictures. Printroom.com, an on-line photography lab, donated considerable funds to print the final gallery images. The opening will also coincide with the start of National Adoption Month, a nationwide outreach program begun in 1990, designed to call attention to the need for foster and adoptive families. Currently there are more than 600 children in Santa Barbara County's foster care system in need of placement. Local photographers were able to photograph nearly 40 individual children and 12 families. The photographs were captured during three days at the Brooks Mason Street campus, the Santa Barbara Courthouse Sunken Gardens, and at Santa Barbara's Butterfly Beach. Santa Barbara Heart Gallery Director and Brooks faculty member, Russ McConnell, coordinated this part of the project. McConnell teamed with Anne Rodriguez, of Santa Barbara County Child Welfare Services, who was familiar with the needs of the children and was able to work with local officials and families to make the photography sessions possible. Initially Rodriguez and McConnell didn't know they each had the same project in mind. McConnell heard of the Heart Gallery project though his father-in-law, a social worker in San Luis Obispo. "He talked about what a great cause it was," said McConnell, who has a background in making fine art studio photographs of children. As a faculty member of Brooks, and as coordinator of the Cota Street gallery, he had a special set of abilities and resources to bring to the project. "This was a perfect time and place to get involved and to give back," said McConnell. In talking to other Heart Gallery directors, McConnell was told the hardest part of the project was finding an ally in the welfare system. "I talked to people who tried unsuccessfully for years to do this," McConnell said. He said when he got in touch with Rodriguez, "it was a match made in heaven." Rodriguez had long wanted to do such a project but had no access to photographers or a venue. "I always wanted to do a Heart Gallery project to bring awareness to our community. When Russ called, it was a miracle," she said. Photographers on the project included a group of Brooks Institute alumni and faculty members. The alumni included Jose Villa, Emily Hart Roberts, Michelle Warren and Melanie Moe. Besides McConnell, who teaches architectural photography, faculty member Christy Schuler and Brooks portrait photography sequence coordinator Tim Meyer also participated in photographing the children and their families. In lining up the photographers for the project, McConnell's aim was to display exceptional images. "Good photography will bring good exposure for the cause," said McConnell. Rodriguez noted that visually strong pictures will help bring attention to the children's need. "We want to empower the kids and have them be part of solution," she said. The Heart Galleries strive to dispel misperceptions about foster children. "When people actually see foster kids, they are surprised. They look just like (other) children!" Rodriguez said. When the youngsters arrived to have their pictures made, even the photographers were surprised. "What they saw were happy, bouncy kids," Rodriguez added. The young photo subjects were clearly interested in helping with the project, Rodriguez noted. "They wanted to help make the community aware and help future kids coming into the system. The children and their families were proud to help and be part of the solution. It was a great collaboration among everyone to make this effort successful." Rodriguez also expressed her enthusiasm about last year's success. "Last years Heart Gallery was a major success. Not only did we receive much media attention, but we had more than 500 people come visit the gallery. After the opening, my phone rang off the hook with donations and offers of help. We also recruited many new adoptive and foster homes for our children in care. The major achievement was how the children felt who participated in the photo shoot and gallery opening. They all felt like rock stars, seeing their pictures hanging in the gallery, and knowing that they were part of a solution to help other foster kids who may find themselves without parents and a place to call home. I think we did what we set out to do, which was recruit more foster and adoptive homes and help eliminate some of the negative stigma that surrounds foster care. I am hoping to duplicate that success at the Santa Maria opening on Nov. 7th." For additional information, visit the local Heart Gallery website at http://www.sbheartgallery.org. The site lists volunteer opportunities and other ways to get involved with the project. Additional information is available from the key project coordinators: Anne Rodriguez Russ McConnell About Brooks Institute
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