Elkin Elementary School
PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Emily Rycroft
Phone: 336-835-2756
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 12, 2021
Faces of Innocence Art Exhibit on Loan to Elkin Elementary School
The photography exhibit “Faces of Innocence” by National Geographic contributor and world-renowned photographer Steve McCurry will be on display at Elkin Elementary School during the 2021-2022 school year. The exhibit was brought to the school through the efforts of art teacher Jill Bellia and was gifted by the Besharat Arts Foundation in Atlanta, Georgia. Elkin Elementary School is one of only four schools in North Carolina to have this exhibit on display. The photographs feature children from around the world with the hope that they will not only encourage an interest in photography as an art, but also foster an interest in different cultures and countries.
“I’m so excited for our students to see other children their age from around the world in their element. Many of our students have not been exposed to these different cultures before. Through discussion, reflection, and exploration, they can learn that although we have differences we are still very much the same. My hope is that this exhibit will foster curiosity about the children and countries in the photographs and that they will inspire us to learn more about them. Through this gift, the Besharat Arts Foundation will beautify our school and enrich the lives of our students and community members,” says Jill Bellia.
Art in School was initiated and entirely financed by the Besharat Arts Foundation Museum and Gallery. This ambitious project aims to increase sympathy for others among children as well as show them that although there are massive cultural differences throughout the world, we all share the same human commonalities. It is designed to widen perspectives and allow children to both expand their knowledge on many different aspects of life throughout the world and increase human sympathy for their differentiating but equal counterparts.
