Art From the Heart
Article submitted by PAT AUBÉ GRAY

Marine Corporal William G. Taylor, 26, Macon, Ga., died in Iraq in November, 2006. He is survived by his mother, Catherine Krattli, and a daughter, Leah.

In late 2005 the Atlanta Fine Arts League was founded by four Atlanta artists, Lisa Gleim, Geraldine Zaki, Fran Milner, Leah Henry, and Blairsville's Pat Aubé Gray. While the League has now spun a life of its own, it was specifically founded to launch a project initially conceived by Lisa Gleim, Art From the Heart, in which professional portrait artists are volunteering to paint 20 x 24 inch head and shoulders portraits of American soldiers from Georgia who have died in Iraq or Afghanistan. The portraits will be donated to the families of the fallen American heroes. Over one hundred Georgia soldiers have lost their lives thus far in these Middle East conflicts.

The National Museum of Patriotism in downtown Atlanta will be hosting an exhibition of all of the portraits from September 8, 2007 through Veterans Day, November 11, 2007, with an opening reception and ceremony on September 8th. The project has received much attention and has been the subject of several Atlanta based television broadcasts and newspaper articles. Atlanta Design & Style Magazine will be publishing a twenty-four-page spread in their summer issue, which will include photographs and biographies of the completed portraits.

There are currently approximately forty portraits completed or in progress. Finding professional portrait artists has been easy, as they have willingly offered to volunteer their time, effort, and talent to this wonderful project, but getting in touch with the families of the fallen soldiers has not been as simple. If you know of anyone whose loved one has been killed in Iraq or Afghanistan, please have him or her email atlantafineartsleague@yahoo.c om.