With Art Exhibit, Children Get Into the Spirit of Promoting Health Reform

Almost 400 kids submitted entries -- including, above, "Healthy Spirits" by Gary Olguin of Lakewood, Colo. -- for the "America's Future Starts With Healthy Children Art Exhibit," and more than 60 pieces will soon be on display in Washington.

The project was organized by the Health Rights Organizing Project, a coalition of nonprofit community groups pushing for reauthorization of SCHIP, the State Children's Health Insurance Program, as well as for more flexible insurance coverage for legal immigrant children and pregnant women.

The art project intends to "put a face on an issue that is really dehumanizing," says Hemi Kim, D.C. director of the National Korean American Service and Education Consortium, one of the community groups involved.

To solicit entries, organizations such as Kim's held workshops for students throughout the country, explaining basic concepts related to health care and health insurance.

On Friday, the exhibit will be displayed at the Rayburn House Office Building, Independence Avenue and South Capitol Street, and Jan. 26-28 at Union Station.

-- Kathleen Hom