'Heart Gallery' Puts a Face on Adoption for National Adoption Awareness Month

Stark County Job & Family Services Children Services Division and Project KARE are partnering with the Canton Arts Community to celebrate National Adoption Awareness Month in November. 

The 2012 Heart Gallery, Art with a Heart exhibit will open on First Friday, 5 p.m. Nov. 2, at the Joseph Saxton Gallery of Photography, at 520 Cleveland Ave. NW in Canton. 

The exhibit features children waiting for an adoptive family and will travel throughout Stark County during the month of November.

"It is our hope these children featured in beautiful art, created by our local artists, will inspire individuals and families to envision themselves as potential adoptive families and forever change the life of a child," said SCJFS Executive Director Julie Barnes.

Additional exhibit locations include the following:

• November 3rd - 12th North Canton Public Library, 185 N. Main Street, North Canton*

• November 5th - 11th RiverTree Christian Church, 7373 Portage Street NW, Massillon*

• November 12th - 19th Stark County District Main Library, 715 Market Avenue N, Canton

• November 20th - 27th Massillon Museum, 121 Lincoln Way East, Massillon*

• November 20th - 27th Carnation City Mall, 2500 West State Street, Alliance*

• November 28th - December 9th Canton Cultural Center for the Arts, 1001 Market Ave. N, Canton

* The gallery will be split between both locations.

About Heart Gallery

On Nov. 3, 2010, the first Stark County Heart Gallery, Art with a Heart exhibit was unveiled at the Joseph Saxton Gallery of Photography in Canton. The exhibit was modeled after the Heart Gallery adoption recruitment strategy started in New Mexico in 2001. The Stark County Heart Gallery, Art with a Heart event was a huge success and launched a month-long traveling exhibit of stunning sculptures, paintings, photographs and sketches of children who represented the face of adoption in Stark County and across the nation.

This year's Heart Gallery is supported by Project KARE, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. For more information about the Heart Gallery, contact Brent Hite at 330-451-8882. For information about becoming a foster or adoptive parent, call 330-451-8789 or visit www.StarkJFS.org.