Washington student’s art raises money for charity

A Washington student’s artwork with a simple message is making a big impact.

Sadie Paul, a student at Stewart Elementary School, was inspired to create her piece after learning about Black History Month.

Her art teacher had students creating artwork with colors of the world paints — crayons in different skin tones.

This project inspired Paul to create her own artwork at home.

She created a rainbow in the skin-toned color crayons, and wrote above it, “Everyone is Welcome Here.”

“A few weeks later, I wanted to go paint, so I painted this, and I really liked it,” she said. “So I asked my mom to take a picture and send it to my art teacher.”

Paul’s mom, Whitney Swift, shared the artwork on Facebook, where it received an overwhelming response from friends and family.

Swift, and Paul’s piano teacher, Elisabeth Tinnes, came together to put Paul’s artwork on a T-shirt.

“I thought it was so cool that I wanted to share it on Facebook, and so many people were touched by it,” Swift said. “Elisabeth and I have been friends for many years, and she was just so touched by it as well that someone 8 years old was so open to equality.”

Paul set a goal of selling 100 T-shits and reached 103 sales in a matter of days.

She said she felt a lot of mixed emotions when she saw friends and family wearing the shirt with her artwork.

“I was nervous and excited and happy,” she said.

The profits from the T-shirts sold are going to International Children’s Fund, an organization which provides aid to Indigenous communities in Africa, a charity that Paul chose.

“It’s hard for her to understand that not everybody has the same things that she has, and that not everybody is capable of getting those things,” Swift said. “So she really wanted to make sure that other kids her age had access to food and clean water and education.”

On Thursday, Paul was presented with a check for $1,000 from her piano teacher — the money her shirts raised for the nonprofit.

Paul said she’s happy to see her artwork make such a big impact.

“I like that people are supporting and that they also want to help those kids that can’t have everything that other people have,” she said.

Swift said that Paul sold shirts to customers all over the country.

“It makes me really proud of her. She’s a very thoughtful little girl,” she said. “I think it’s really impressive that she was able to bring this many people together at her age.”