Students in the Make It Happen! Program at Lyman Moore Middle School are embarking on a community-building cooking project. A senior at Deering High School is creating a welcoming Persian mural for the school. A Portland High School senior has curated a show of artwork from Portland Public Schools high students that is currently on display at the Portland Public Library’s Lewis Gallery. All these student-led projects are made possible with grants from Painting for a Purpose.

Painting for a Purpose is a local nonprofit organization founded by teachers. It brings creative people together to paint whimsical decorative items that they sell to raise money to fund service-learning projects led by Portland Public Schools students who want to make a difference. Students receive up to $500 to put their idea into action. So far this school year, Painting for a Purpose has funded a wide variety of PPS students' amazing service-learning projects.

Those include the Make It Happen! cooking project at Lyman Moore. Students in that college-readiness program for multilingual students want to learn more about food dishes from across the globe and share their experience with others through a cookbook and community meal. Through an after-school cooking class, students aim to expand their cooking abilities and bring people closer together. The $500 Painting for a Purpose grant for this project will help with purchasing quality ingredients and cooking tools.

A senior at Deering High School is going to create a Persian mural in the language wing, adding artwork to the halls that makes students from the regions of old Persia feel welcome. With the aid of a $412 Painting for a Purpose grant to make the project possible, this student hopes to develop their own artistic skills, as well as celebrate peers from Iran, Afghanistan, Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan.

A $500 Painting for a Purpose grant helped a Portland High School senior curate an art show in the Lewis Gallery at the Portland Public Library. The “Art Class” exhibit at the gallery, on display until April 21, showcases the artwork skills of Portland Public Schools high school students in a public space and celebrates young artists while cultivating their creativity. It also gave the student curating the show, Hannah Caron, an opportunity to learn how to curate and organize an exhibit. Learn more about this show.

In another project, students at Deering High School are collaborating to create a student-run business called Rise and Shine Cafe. The aim of the project, funded with a $300 Painting for a Purpose grant, is to provide an opportunity for students to learn transferable work skills, as well as provide the school community with delicious coffee, tea and other snacks.  Students also will learn how to operate a small business!

Learn more about these and other exiting student-led projects funded by Painting for a Purpose during the 2022-2023 school year HERE.

PHOTO: Shown are examples of the whimsical decorative items that Painting for a Purpose sells to raise money to fund service-learning projects led by Portland Public Schools students who want to make a difference.