Youth Online Art Course: 2022
We teamed up once again with the Orange County Family Justice Center Foundation of Anaheim to bring their youth an online art course taught by our co-founder & professional artist, Yara Almouradi. These weekly lessons are free to the students and each participant will receive an art supplies kit prior to the beginning of the course. The lesson plans & art kits are made with the students’ ages in mind. Even though these lessons will be taught virtually due to COVID-19, it will be a guided, academic and interactive course where our participants will learn the fundamentals of drawing, color and design. Students’ final artwork will be displayed in an online gallery.
Project France: 2022
We traveled to France in March to host an art gallery for Syrian refugees and the local population in Strasbourg. There were two interactive art booths where attendees had the opportunity to participate in creating solidarity artwork. Artwork made by Syrian-Americans and collaborative art made by Syrian refugees from around the globe were on display.
COVID-19 K-12 Asynchronous Art Course Series: 2021
[2] Children Ages 6-12
We teamed up with the Orange County Family Justice Center Foundation of Anaheim to bring their children group an asynchronous online art course taught by our co-founder & professional artist, Yara Almouradi. These weekly lessons were free to the students and each participant received an art supplies kit prior to the beginning of the course. The lesson plans & art kits were made with the students’ ages in mind. Even though these lessons were taught virtually due to COVID-19, they were a guided, academic and interactive course where our participants learned the fundamentals of drawing, color and design. Upon completion of the course, each student created two artworks* utilizing techniques taught in the course, that were then laser printed onto mugs and delivered to the center for distribution. The students’ kept one mug and gifted the other.
*Sight & Sketches will keep and archive the original drawings and messages for future galleries.
[1] Youth Ages 13-18
We teamed up with the Orange County Family Justice Center Foundation of Anaheim to bring their youth asynchronous online art courses taught by our co-founder & professional artist, Yara Almouradi. These weekly lessons were free to the students and each participant received an art supplies kit prior to the beginning of the course. The lesson plans & art kits were made with the students’ ages in mind. Even though these lessons were taught virtually due to COVID-19, they were a guided, academic and interactive course where our participants learned the fundamentals of drawing, color and design. Upon completion, each student created two drawings to be printed onto mugs — one to keep, and one to gift. The artwork* was then laser printed onto coffee mugs and delivered to the center for distribution.
*Sight & Sketches will keep and archive the original drawings and messages for future galleries.
COVID-19 Heroes Appreciation Project Series: 2020
[4] St. Jude Hospital E.R. Nurses (Fullerton, CA)
Local families created artful messages and drawings to show their appreciation to Fullerton’s St. Jude Hospital E.R. nurses under the guidance of Sight & Sketches. The messages & artwork* were then laser printed onto coffee mugs, in partnership with Dr. Faisal Qazi, and gifted to the St. Jude Hospital E.R. nurses in Fullerton.
[3] St. Jude Heritage (Brea, CA)
Patients (& their family members) of St. Jude Heritage created artful messages and drawings to show their appreciation to St. Jude Heritage’s healthcare staff under the guidance of Sight & Sketches. The messages & artwork* were then laser printed onto coffee mugs and gifted to the St. Jude Heritage staff in Brea.
[2] St. Joseph Hospital E.R. (Orange, CA)
Local children created artful messages and drawings to show their appreciation to the St. Joseph Hospital E.R. staff under the guidance of Sight & Sketches. The artwork* was then laser printed onto coffee mugs, in partnership with Lestonnac Free Clinic (Orange), and gifted to the healthcare workers in the St. Joseph E.R. department in Orange.
[1] First Responder Parents (Orange County, CA)
Children of four local community & family health clinics staff created artful messages and drawings to show their appreciation to their First Responder parents. The artwork* was then laser printed onto coffee mugs, in partnership with Lestonnac Free Clinic (Orange), and gifted to the First Responder parents.
*Sight & Sketches will keep and archive the original drawings and messages for future galleries.
Project Germany: 2020 – POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19
We will be traveling to Germany in the Spring to host art therapy workshops for Syrian refugees. While there, we will host a free public art gallery where we will display Syrian refugee artwork alongside our co-founder’s artwork in an effort to raise awareness about the Syrian refugee crisis. Part of the exhibit will be interactive where attendees will have the opportunity to create solidarity pieces.
Project Turkey: 2020 – POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19
We will be traveling to Turkey in the Spring to host art therapy workshops for Syrian refugees. There will be interactive art booths where Syrian refugees display their artwork alongside other Syrian refugees’ work from around the globe. The event will have several interactive sections where locals attending the event, as well as refugees, will have the opportunity to participate and create solidarity artwork.
Project OC: 2020 – POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19
This project will be open to Orange County’s underserved community. Our focus will be on mental health and healing through the arts. Art is a methodical and relaxing way for individuals in crisis to find respite from their stressful day in a safe and controlled environment by solely focusing on one task at hand: art. This proven tension-relieving method will be employed to provide community members with an alternate avenue for stress relief.
Project Anaheim : 2019
Art station at the Anaheim Convention Center creating a mural thanking the City of Anaheim.
Project Germany: 2019
Project Turkey: 2019
We traveled to Turkey in March to host art therapy workshops for Syrian refugees. We hosted interactive art booths where Syrian refugees displayed their artwork alongside other Syrian refugees’ work from around the globe. The event had several interactive sections where locals attending the event, as well as refugees, had the opportunity to participate and create solidarity artwork.
Project Turkey: 2019
We traveled to Turkey in March to host art therapy workshops for Syrian refugees. We hosted interactive art booths where Syrian refugees displayed their artwork alongside other Syrian refugees’ work from around the globe. The event had several interactive sections where locals attending the event, as well as refugees, had the opportunity to participate and create solidarity artwork.
Silk Road Unity Festival: 2018
Sight & Sketches partnered with The Muckenthaler Cultural Center and other organizations on this festival of unity. During the event, we lead a collaborative community art piece highlighting the famous Spice Market of the Silk Road as well as providing coloring page station for event attendees. The collaborative artwork will be showcased in various future galleries throughout Southern California.
Peace of Mind: A Family Wellness Event: 2018
Sight & Sketches teamed up with Access-CA and other great organizations at the Delhi Center in Santa Ana to add an art aspect to this great event. We introduced art and crafts to children ages 5 to 12 years old, then had them parade their artwork at the end of the festival.
Project Anaheim | Reception and Adult Art Therapy Workshop: 2018
Using art as a tool for healing and discussing mental health, we collaborated with Access-CA and hosted an art workshop for refugee adults in Anaheim.
Project Anaheim | Drawing Out Stigma: 2018
Focusing on using art as a mental health tool for community youth, Sight & Sketches collaborated with the County of Orange and Access-CA and directly worked with the community youth to paint a three-panel mural that showcased their interests and goals, as well as allowed them to express themselves and release their stress through art.
Once completed, the triptych was displayed in Access-CA’s headquarters in Anaheim for one month, then showcased at the Bowers Museum’s Multi-Ethnic Arts & Family Festival on May 6, 2018. This festival was a culmination of community visual art workshops and exhibits focused on reducing stigma and increasing mental health awareness. The event featured artwork created by community members of different cultural backgrounds whom have experienced mental health conditions. The art exhibit was accompanied by live international performances and ethnic foods. All festival activities were provided at no cost to the community.
Project Fullerton: 2017
Our Sketches Ambassador teamed up with California State University Fullerton’s ‘Fine Art Society’ and ‘A Country Called Syria’ (ACCS) to create a two-week exhibition titled RESPOND: in Solidarity with Syria. ‘Sight & Sketches’ provided artwork created by Syrian refugees as well as sponsored the reception. CSUF Visual Arts Graduate & Undergraduate students created response pieces to the Syrian Crisis while focusing on positive aspects such as tolerance, acceptance, love, and resilience. ACCS provided Syrian artifacts on display with didactics.
Project El Cajon: 2017
Our Sketches Ambassador teamed up with refugees in El Cajon, (San Diego) California to create collaborative artworks that focuses on improving mental health through artistic relaxation. Art is a methodical and relaxing way for people in crisis to slow their day down by focusing solely on one task at hand: coloring. It is a proven tension relieving method that will be employed to give the resettled refugees a respite from their stressful day in a safe and controlled environment. The refugees were able to leave their mark through colorful fingerprints on nine (9) different collaborative ink drawings using their literal identity to make the drawings come to life.
Project Istanbul: 2016
Showing the Syrian children in Istanbul that the American youth stands in solidarity with their plight through an exchange of hand-made greeting cards, postcards, letters, drawings, and posters.
Elementary, High School, College, and International students in Southern California participated in this humanitarian relief effort. Students from Orange and Los Angeles Counties as well as the Inland Empire partook in this project for the Syrian refugees residing in Istanbul, Turkey.
Browse through our gallery below to see a sample of the 260 solidarity cards and drawings exchanged!
Sight & Sketches 