In January of 2012 I was welcomed to Buddha’s Smile School, in Sarnath, India, to host some art workshops with the kids. Here’s some of the fantastic results and a glimpse into daily life at the school…
The kids used handmade paper, fabric scraps, glue, and scissors to cut out letter forms and piece together images in our collage workshops.

We cut out and decorated letters for a photo project to thank the donors of last year’s fundraiser. For all the donors names, please see The Thank You Project.

In the watercolor workshop, they learned about primary and secondary colors, how to mix colors, and how different ratios of water and pigment have different effects.

A drawing collaboration in an accordian book between myself and a talented young lady, Jahida…

In the courtyard, we shared paints and pencils working on the Thank You Project (you can see their lovely new generator in the background).
Everyday, after morning classes, lunch is made in their kitchen and served to the 221 students at their desks.
After lunch, there is a supervised time for the younger grades to learn how to wash their hands and brush their teeth.

An orderly line-up for time at the sink…

Toothbrushes are marked with every child’s name and distributed.

I was extremely impressed with how hard-working the teachers and staff were to create this structured time for the health and dignity of the children. For many of the students, it is the only time of the day dedicated to a nutritious meal and personal hygiene.
It made me so happy to see the leaders of the school taking a little time out for fun and creativity.

photo credit: Shannon Holman