The Heart Gallery NYC PRIDE Exhibition features photographs by Award- Winning Photographers to help fulfill lifelong dreams of Adoption
Children in foster care share common goals; to find “forever” families and live in a loving and stable home environment. Thus, 12 LGBTQ youth and 24 other foster children will be featured in the Heart Gallery NYC Pride Photo Exhibition, June 10th– 20th, during National Pride Month. The exhibition will take place at Times Square Museum & Visitors Center. The photos were taken by celebrity photographers, many of whom will be present during the private reception, on Monday June 9th, 6-8 PM; it will be open to the media. Thanks to Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc., Public Service Announcements about the exhibit will run on several Times Square digital signs.
“Our PRIDE exhibition plays a critical role in fostering the understanding needed by LGBTQ young adults and youth. They often face isolation during the most vulnerable time of their lives. They need loving adoptive families. We’re hoping that same-sex or heterosexual couples will step up to fulfill the children’s dream of finding “forever families,” said Laurie Sherman Graff, Executive Director and Founder, Heart Gallery NYC.
“This exhibition is about honoring the nearly 12,000 NYC children living in foster care and the hundreds waiting and ready to be adopted.”
“We are thankful to the Times Square Alliance and You Gotta Believe for helping to bring this exhibition to fruition and in the public eye,” said Sherman Graff.
Celebrity and notable photographers, each of whom donated her/his talent and time to create the portraits on display, hope their expressive images capture the hearts of prospective adoptive families. Through the support and collaboration with You Gotta Believe, the only organization in the New York City Metro area that solely limits its practice to finding permanent parents and families for young adults, teens, and pre-teens in the foster care system, the goal is to create interest to build families in non-traditional ways.
The Executive Director for You Gotta Believe, Susan Grundberg is delighted to collaborate with Heart Gallery NYC to shed light on the disproportionately high number of LGBTQ youth in foster care. Grundberg believes that the PRIDE exhibit shows the real faces of LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ youth who are in need of lifetime families. She hopes that through this exhibit people will realize that all kids in foster care, no matter their age or orientation, need and deserve loving and affirming lifetime parents.
Known for their iconic banner-seized photographs, Heart Gallery NYC launched its very first exhibit in 2007, and was hosted at the Times Square Alliance Visitors Center. The space that once housed the landmark Embassy Theater is anticipated to close in late June. The Heart Gallery exhibition will be the last event held in the world’s first news-reel theater.
More Info: www.heartgallerynyc.org; www.yougottabelieve.org