Photo exhibit in Bridgeport highlights children in need of adoptive families

Friday, 30 October 2009 20:21

The Heart Gallery, an exhibit featuring professionally done photos of Connecticut children who need adoptive families, will open with a reception Wednesday, Nov. 4 from 6 to 8 p.m. on Housatonic Community College’s Beacon Hall third floor.

The reception is free and open to the public.

The Heart Gallery is a traveling exhibit that will be on display at the Housatonic Museum of Art through Nov. 30. It already has opened at the downtown college campus.

The exhibit is sponsored by the state Department of Children and Families, and the city of Bridgeport,

November is National Adoption Month in Connecticut, and the exhibit’s goal is to locate adoptive homes for children shown in the gallery.

The Heart Gallery idea began in New Mexico in 2001. This concept matched children in the state’s child welfare system needing adoptive families with professional photographers.

As a result, photograph portraits were created and displayed at public and private sites across New Mexico.

Many adoptive families came forward as a result of the initiative, and the Heart Gallery quickly spread across the country and is now in almost every state.

The Heart Gallery has been in Connecticut since 2003. It has been displayed at dozens of locations, including the Bushnell Theater, Crystal Mall, Danbury Hospital, Mount Avery Baptist Church, Mystic Aquarium, New Britain City Hall, Quinnipiac University, St. Vincent’s Medical Center, Shubert Theater, Stepping Stones Museum for Children, and University of Connecticut Health Center.

For information go to heartgalleryct.org.