Portraits of Hope Touches Down at K.I.

On a recent Monday morning at Kehillat Israel, Palisadian artist Ed Massey worked with a group of students from Pacific Point Academy painting panels for his Aspen/Snowmass Fire and Rescue Project.
Through his organization Portraits of Hope, Massey, along with his brother Bernie, is known for transforming Los Angeles lifeguard towers, New York taxicabs, an oil derrick at Beverly Hills High School (his alma mater) into works of art. Ed’s work can be seen in the Palisades on the Chabad of Pacific Palisades building (corner of Sunset Boulevard and Los Liones Drive), and in the playground at Palisades Elementary.
Founded by Palisadian Debbie Shaler-Williams, Pacific Point is completing its second full year of operation in Santa Monica. The school is devoted to children with learning challenges and attention issues, and maintains a low enrollment. Of the 10 kids (ages seven to 13) who participated in the painting session, three live in the Palisades: Molly Frenkel, 12, Finn Reiker, 9, and Jack Williams, 12.
Mom Marsi Frenkel, who attended the painting session, told the Palisadian-Post: “Ed and Bernie explained to the kids what the project was going to be all about, and that they were going to paint these murals used for emergency vehicles that help people who are hurt and injured in the Aspen area.”
“The kids and parents were tremendous, and the energy in the room was terrific,” Ed told the Post. “It was hands-on for all, and without a doubt the first time any of them had painted art panels to visually transform iconic and fully operational front-line fire trucks and rescue vehicles. That excited the kids and their parents.”
Fire, emergency and rescue vehicles in Aspen and nearby Snowmass will be decorated with the colorful panels this month, and will stay on them for five months. In addition to the Pacific Point kids, children and adults in Los Angeles and Colorado also participated.
Through the years, kids from many schools, including Marquez and the Palisades Jewish Early Childhood Center, have participated in Portraits of Hope, as have people in hospitals and social service programs.
Last year, two kids were initially enrolled at Pacific Point, and the growth since that time has come strictly from word of mouth.
“The beauty of the school is it’s one-to-one intervention, with group learning in the afternoon,” Frenkel says. “We offer daily social skills, special skills, educational therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. No two kids at the school are at the same level.”
Frenkel stresses that parents no longer need to run their kids around after school to see specialists, as all the necessary therapists are on campus.
The kids are relaxed as well. “You’re taught at your level and you move on when you’re ready,” Frenkel says. “There’s no stress level, and nothing to be nervous about. There’s no competition anymore. Nobody is working on the same thing.”
Being a part of the Masseys’ creative endeavor was inspiring to the children, who were talking about it long after the two-hour painting session was over. For thank you cards, the children “tried to recreate what the Masseys do,” Frenkel says, and spent all week working on them.
Contacts: Portraitsofhope.org and pacificpointacademy.com.