News

McKinleyville Middle School eighth grade art students are partnering up with Sequoia Humane Society to raise awareness and find forever homes for all of their rescue animals.

Each MMS student created a watercolor portrait of an adoptable animal and donated the paintings to the animal rescue so that when the animals are adopted their owner gets to keep the portrait.

The students were able to obtain pictures of the adoptable animals for their portraits through the humane society's website. To see all the adoptable dogs and cats click here.

“All of these animals are deserving of a loving home during the holiday season. In these rough times due to Covid-19, it is more important than ever to adopt an amazing companion. Every one of the awesome paintings were specially handmade to bring people to the Sequoia Humane Society so they can hopefully take a best friend home with them.” Eighth-grader Tatum Fisher said in a release.

Read the full press release below.

ADOPT A PAINTED PET
McKinleyville Middle School teams up with the Sequoia Humane Society to help rescue pets find a home.

McKinleyville, CA, December 15, 2020
McKinleyville Middle School eighth graders have partnered with the Sequoia Humane Society to help find homes for their rescue animals. After getting to know the pets online by reading descriptions and looking at photos each artist “adopted” a pet to create a unique and beautiful watercolor portrait of. MMS students want to help raise awareness for the humane society and their goal is to help these cats and dogs find their forever homes! The paintings were donated to the humane society so when an animal is adopted the owner gets to keep the original portrait. For more information on available animals please visit sequoiahumane.org.

“The motivation for this project came from seeing my students working from home with their furry friends at their side. Spontaneous animal shows are a normal occurrence in our online art classes and we all love it! I knew the students would be excited to use their art to help rescue animals because it's close to their hearts. Distance learning can be isolating but collaborating with the Sequoia Humane Society helped create a meaningful connection for my students. The project was possible during Covid-19 because the Sequoia Humane Society has a well organized website with detailed information on each animal. This project has helped our students express themselves creatively while raising awareness for an important cause. Artists were able to use the principles of art along with empathy, and compassion to create these stunning works.” Lizzy Dostal MMS Art Teacher.

“All of these animals are deserving of a loving home during the holiday season. In these rough times due to Covid-19, it is more important than ever to adopt an amazing companion. Every one of the awesome paintings were specially handmade to bring people to the Sequoia Humane Society so they can hopefully take a best friend home with them.” - Tatum Fisher, eighth grade artist.

McKinleyville Middle School offers classes in drawing, painting, pottery and media arts to sixth through eighth grade students. Students learn to express themselves and explore their creativity while creating unique works of art.