Pam Ingalls’ Focuses on Maasai Girls’ Schools

Pam Ingalls and Susan McCabe spent ten days in Kenya last October, getting to know the people in and around a boarding school for Maasai girls run by the Maasai Children’s Initiative (MCI). The experience was electrifying, and inspired Pam’s May oil painting exhibit "Facing Kenya, Maasai Portraits from The Mara Hills Academy." The public is welcome to a preview of the show, at the Hardware Store Restaurant Gallery – on Thursday, May 2 from 7-9 pm, where they can learn more about the academy from Ingalls and others who have visited Maasailand.
 
"The Maasai people welcomed us so warmly," remembers Pam. "They are so proud of their school, and the movement to educate girls, who traditionally marry very young. It was an honor to paint these beautiful people, and to share their lives for a short time."
 
Ingalls, an internationally renowned artist who makes her home on Vashon Island, will donate a percentage of her painting sales to the school, as well as money raised from raffling off one of the paintings. (The raffle-winner gets to choose which painting in the exhibit they would like – up to $2000.00 in value!)
 
This is the seventh annual show in Pam’s "Facing" series, where she exhibits portraits from small communities around the world. "Each project has taught me so much about people, and ways to communicate humanity with paint. Peace is possible when we care about other people – and other communities," says Pam. "With enough small connections, we realize our similarities, and that we are all part of the same world."
 
Raffle tickets cost $10 and are available at Vashon Bookshop and the preview party. Pam’s show at The Hardware Store Gallery is part of the Vashon Island Studio Art Tour, open 10-5, Saturdays and Sundays; May 4,5,11 & 12. For more information about the MCI, go to www.maasaichildrensaninitiative.org.