First Recipients of the
Matt Papirmeister Award
Isabel Acuna Marin (left) and Erin Malone (right), the first recipients of the YAFH Matt Papirmeister Award, with YAFH Executive Director Jan Papirmeister.
At the 2023 Youth Art For Healing Art Show on April 26, graduating seniors Erin Malone and Isabel Acuna Marin were presented with the first Matt Papirmeister Awards. The Art Show, held at the Silver Spring Civic Building, honored the 209 student artists who participated in the YAFH program during the 2022-23 school year. On display were the students' 156 beautiful works of art – 119 paintings for permanent installation in five healthcare sites and 37 Gifts of Gratitude for healthcare workers in three hospitals.
The Matt Papirmeister Award will be presented annually to two high school seniors in the form of a $2,500 scholarship for each student toward their post-secondary education. The award honors the exemplary life of Matt Papirmeister, son of YAFH founder Jan Papirmeister and her husband Chuck. The award is designed not only to commemorate Matt’s kind spirit and zest for life, but also to honor and support student artists who, with their creativity, empathy, and commitment, give to others through their art.
Isabel Acuna Marin’s painting from the 2022-23 school year, now permanently installed at MedStar Health Physical Therapy at Pikesville.
Isabel began participating in YAFH in 2021, as a member of the National Art Honor Society at her school. Her contributions to YAFH projects span two school years, an experience that has helped to shape her goals for the future. Isabel shared, “My experience painting for YAFH has taught me a lot about myself and my community, and has impacted the way I see my future and who I want to become as an artist. I realized that I feel passionate about social impact projects that can change people’s lives, and now I see my future as an artist participating in and executing projects that give back to my community.” As Isabel begins college, she already has a plan of how to continue her artistic involvement in community service: “Since I envision myself involved in social change, I would like to start by working and volunteering with nonprofits similar to Youth Art For Healing, to address issues such as environmental causes, mental health, violence, gender equality, and children’s education, the issues I feel most passionate about. I've also been working with a community organization as a graphic designer to create posts to inform the Latino community in Montgomery County about scholarships and events. I would like to continue working on projects like these.”
Erin Malone’s painting from the 2022-23 school year, now permanently installed at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Likewise, Erin began contributing to YAFH projects when she joined the National Art Honor Society at her school. Erin has been involved in community service from a young age, and contributing to YAFH projects during the past two school years has held extra meaning for her. At the age of seven, Erin was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and has been visiting Children’s National Hospital, a YAFH partner, for endocrinology appointments. “As a child, I always noticed the art made by other kids in the halls of the hospital and I loved looking at them – especially when new art came in because there was something to distract me from all the thoughts of needles and blood tests, and all those uncomfortable things that weren’t easy to get used to,” says Erin. “So when I got assigned to one of the paintings that was to be sent to Children’s Hospital, suddenly I was at the other end of those paintings that I had gazed at in the hallways. Now I was the person who made those beautiful gifts.” The experience was very rewarding for Erin, who says, “I was more nervous than I have ever been to paint something because I really wanted it to look nice for the hospital. I was also so happy to be able to provide something for the place that quite literally saved my life more than once.”
We are very proud of both award recipients and look forward to seeing what Erin and Isabel accomplish in the coming years.
To view photographs from the Art Show, please visit our 2023 YAFH Art Show Gallery.
To learn more about the Award, please visit our Matt Papirmeister Award page.
2023 Youth Art For Healing Art Show
On April 26, our 2022-23 student artists and YAFH community gathered at the Silver Spring Civic Building for our Art Show. This was our first in-person Art Show since 2019. We celebrated the talented students who participated in our program during the 2022-23 school year. Student artists from 12 schools in the Washington Metro Area created 156 beautiful paintings for six healthcare sites, including 99 works of art for permanent installation and 57 Gifts of Gratitude paintings for healthcare workers. All student artists received Certificates of Appreciation with prints of their paintings.
Jan Papirmeister, YAFH Executive Director, and Carol Berman, Chair of the YAFH Board of Directors and Lead Art Advisor, welcomed attendees and shared their admiration for the student artists who created such uplifting paintings to give to others. They also expressed their gratitude for all who have supported YAFH. Sarah Harnish, Albert Einstein High School Art Teacher, and Leesa Wishart, Holy Cross Hospital Pediatric Center Director, reflected on their years working with YAFH. Ms. Harnish and her students, as well as Ms. Wishart, participated in YAFH’s very first projects during the 2012-13 school year and have partnered with YAFH for many years.
Graduating seniors Erin Malone and Isabel Acuna Marin were presented with the YAFH Matt Papirmeister Award. Both of these outstanding student artists received $2,500 to be applied toward their post-secondary education plans.
YAFH appreciates everyone who attended the Art Show and all of YAFH's supporters!
To view more photographs from the event, visit our 2023 Art Show Gallery.
An Announcement
from the yAFH executive director
APRIL 2023
Dear Friends of YAFH,
It is with immense gratitude for everyone who has supported our mission that we are announcing Youth Art For Healing’s decision to close our doors and say farewell.
Youth Art For Healing was founded in 2012 with a mission to bring works of art created by youth into healthcare environments to provide a sense of comfort, inspiration, and healing for patients and their loved ones, and healthcare professionals. After 11 years of working together, we are celebrating a mission accomplished!
As we celebrate, we hope the mission of Youth Art For Healing continues to inspire people and that youth all around the world may have the opportunity to create art that brings comfort to others.
All donations and remaining funds will go toward the Matt Papirmeister Award to honor and support students who create uplifting artwork to give to others. This annual award will be presented to two high school seniors in the form of a $2,500 scholarship for each student toward their post-secondary education. To learn more about this award or make a donation, visit our Matt Papirmeister Award Page.
We will be sharing more about this transition in the months to come, so please stay tuned.
With great appreciation and a heartfelt thank you,
Jan Papirmeister
YAFH Executive Director
Announcing YAFH’s 2022-23
Projects and Partners
As schools are slowly moving back toward some semblance of normalcy, YAFH continues to provide meaningful avenues for our student artists to create healing artwork for others. This year, we’re excited to have students from 12 schools creating paintings for patient environments and staff at a total of six healthcare locations.
Participating schools include: Albert Einstein High School, Benjamin D. Foulois Creative and Performing Arts Academy, Charles H. Flowers High School, Georgetown Day School, Largo High School, Montgomery Blair High School, Richard Montgomery High School, Thomas S. Wootton High School, St. Andrew Apostle School, Silver Creek Middle School, Watkins Mill High School, and Wheaton High School.
For the third year in a row, student artists are creating Gifts of Gratitude paintings for our frontline healthcare heroes who remain dedicated to caring for COVID-19 patients. We have also been able to work with our healthcare partners to expand our site-based projects once more, in line with our original program model. We are excited to be coordinating artwork for permanent installation in a greater number of clinics, hospitals, and medical offices once again.
This year’s participating healthcare partners include: Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center, Adventist HealthCare White Oak Medical Center, Holy Cross Hospital, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, MedStar Health Physical Therapy at Pikesville, and MedStar Health Physical Therapy at Rosedale.
We look forward to being a part of the artistic journey of this year’s student artists and seeing their incredible results!
YAFH Awarded Seventh Consecutive
Arts & Humanities Grant
Youth Art For Healing has been awarded a $22,000 grant
for the 2022-23 school year from
the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County
The Youth Art For Healing team is grateful to The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, who has generously awarded grant funding to support our mission for seven years in a row. The award for the current 2022-23 school year will enable us to continue advancing YAFH's mission by providing us with vital operational funds. AHCMC’s ongoing support allows us to build effective partnerships, share students’ artwork with the community, and more. We appreciate AHCMC’s leadership and vision for the arts in Montgomery County and we are honored to once again be a recipient of this award.
THANK YOU FOR STANDING STRONG
After nearly a decade and through a global pandemic, Youth Art For Healing is still standing strong in support of our mission, thanks to YOU!
For our 2021-22 Standing Strong Fundraising Campaign, our goal was to raise at least $120,000 to provide vital support so that we could continue nurturing budding student artists during the 2021-22 school year. We hoped to raise a higher amount than last year’s fundraising campaign so that we are able to expand our partnerships and work with new schools and healthcare locations year after year.
When we added up all campaign donations made in 2021, we were overwhelmed by your kindness. Our final fundraising total for the year exceeded our goal by $8,949.
Thank you to everyone who made the 2021-22 school year a success!
Youth Art For Healing
Partners with The Giving Square
for Kids Teach Philanthropy
Youth Art For Healing is excited to have collaborated with The Giving Square to create a video for their Kids Teach Philanthropy video series. Kids from The Giving Square interviewed several of our YAFH student artists to answer questions about how art has helped them personally, who else will benefit from their artwork, and how to get started as an artist. In the video, YAFH students talk about how art has helped them to express their emotions in a healthy way, something that has become even more important during the pandemic.
The Giving Square is an organization that recognizes children as leaders for a new model of philanthropy and gives to them the tools, permission, and support to make a positive impact on our families, schools, and communities. They believe that children can be civic actors, philanthropists, and community builders – if adults get out of the way and let them get involved in this important work. The organization’s new Kids Teach Philanthropy video series provides the opportunity for children to explore and explain how different aspects of philanthropy work in today’s world.
Watch the full 8-minute video Kids Teach Philanthrophy: Art Edition.
To watch more Youth Art For Healing videos, check out our Video Library and our YouTube Channel.
Announcing YAFH’s 2021-22
Projects and Partners
With great obstacles, great opportunities appear. YAFH continues to provide meaningful avenues for our student artists to create healing artwork for others, despite somewhat limited access to our healthcare locations due to COVID-19. This year, we’re excited to have students from 14 schools creating 204 paintings for patient environments and staff at a total of 8 healthcare locations.
Participating schools include Albert Einstein HS, A. Mario Loiederman MS, Benjamin D. Foulois CPPA, Brightwood ES, Charles H. Flowers HS, Gaywood ES, Largo HS, Montgomery Blair HS, Richard Montgomery HS, Thomas S. Wootton HS, Thurgood Marshall MS, Watkins Mill HS, Wheaton HS, and White Oak MS.
For the second year in a row, student artists are creating Gifts of Gratitude paintings for our frontline healthcare heroes who are caring for patients during these unprecedented times. Students will give their Gifts of Gratitude to 125 frontline healthcare workers at these hospitals: Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center, Holy Cross Hospital, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, MedStar Montgomery Medical Center, and the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Our students will also create 79 paintings for permanent installation at these healthcare sites: Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center, Children’s National Hospital, Holy Cross Hospital, MedStar Health Physical Therapy at Waverly, and MedStar Health Physical Therapy at Ellicott City.
YAFH Awarded Arts & Humanities Grant
Youth Art For Healing has been awarded a $17,500 grant
for the 2021-22 school year from
the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County.
This generous award enables us to advance YAFH's mission by providing us with vital operational support to promote effective partnerships, communication needs, and more. The Youth Art For Healing team is grateful to the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County for its' leadership and vision for the arts, and honored to be a recipient of this award!
YAFH Students’ Artworks on Exhibit
at Children’s National Hospital
As we enter our sixth year of partnership, we’re pleased to announce that 51 paintings currently brighten the Emergency Department (ED) hallway of Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC. These works of art were completed during the 2019-20 academic year by talented student artists from:
Charles H. Flowers HS
Gaywood ES
Georgetown Day School
Montgomery Blair HS
Oakland Terrace ES
Oxon Hill HS
Thomas S. Wootton HS
William Paca ES
The paintings, including seascapes, whimsical animals, and other themes will be on display until they are moved to their permanent homes within Children’s National ED, in the radiology area, nursing station, exam rooms, waiting rooms, and hallways.
