About

StreetHeART was founded in December 2008 by Veronika Mihalj and Rebecca Pierce, teachers at International School Manila who wanted to connect with the world outside the “expat bubble”.  Veronika came to ISM with a background in art therapy and had worked on a peace project with street children at Museo Pambata.  Rebecca had managerial experience to offer and a heart for the needy.  Together, they decided to start their own organization to bring art to impoverished children in Manila.

StreetHeART’s mission is to give needy children a voice through artistic expression, empowering them with self-worth and hope for a brighter future.

Workshops take place once or twice a month and serve 30 to 100 children, depending upon the space and the number of helping hands.  They have been held in a slum in Commonwealth, an orphanage in Taguig and at the Smokey Mountain dumpsite in Tondo.  Ultimately, StreetHeART aims to bring expressive art opportunities to as many underprivileged children as possible, even outside of the Philippines.

When working with street children (defined as living on the streets or making a living from the streets), we bring canvas and paint.  Many of these kids have never painted and certainly not on canvas.  We may or may not provide a theme to guide the children’s expression.  For instance, after the terrible destruction of Typhoon Ondoy, we asked the kids to simply paint how they felt.  Others wanted to forget their losses and paint something that made them happy.  The tactile experience of applying paint to canvas can be therapeutic in itself.  Often children will turn the canvas over to paint the back or will paint over their original, swirling the colors together into a thick, brown mess, just to feel the paint moving.  At the end of these workshops the children have something that belongs to them, something that may bring a little brightness to their lives.

When we go into slums or work with children who have homes and belongings, we bring recycled materials for the kids to assemble into note cards, treasure boxes, vases or whatever else they can imagine.  We bring ribbons, buttons, beads, old calendars, wrapping paper, scraps of colored paper, yarn, gift bags, cardboard boxes – anything and everything can be used to make art!  Our mission when working with these children is the same, in addition, we try to teach that materials can be re-used and made into beautiful things.

The very fact that strangers want to bring them materials to create art with, and are interested in what they have to say through their art, lets children know that they are valued and that their voices matter.