Today, I want to share with you a project called Faces of Santa Ana (FOSA) by artist and car designer Brian Peterson. Showing sensitive, emotive portraits of the less fortunate, the project helps to humanize the many homeless people Peterson has encountered in his home of Santa Ana, California. The young artist was drawn to these people in part because he and his mother really struggled when he was growing up, and he realized that they could easily have been in the same difficult position.
“Something inside me was telling me to reach out to them.”
Peterson interacts with his subjects on a deep, personal level before painting them. He gets to know them, talks to them about their story and what’s important to them, and even has them sign the finished artwork. He then puts the money he raises from the sale of the art into a “love account,” which he uses to help get those homeless people off the streets. Recently, Peterson transformed the project into a charitable organization. You can see more about the project in the short documentary below.
Peterson shows remarkable patience and understanding with these people. It does my heart good to see him being so kind to this oft-forgotten population. I’m really grateful that there are still people like this in the world.
Please follow and support FOSA on the project’s website, and on Instagram and Facebook.
All images property of Brian Peterson.
September 7, 2018 at 7:17 am
I used to go downtown once a year and take photos, print them and give them to the homeless person. The look on their face was priceless. God bless him for doing this. A little love and kindness, people, please….. Great post, Donna.
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September 7, 2018 at 8:09 am
How sweet! That’s really kind of you to do that for them.
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September 7, 2018 at 8:50 am
Wonderful project, thanks for posting.
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September 7, 2018 at 10:40 am
Glad you enjoyed it!
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September 7, 2018 at 9:42 am
His thoughtfulness and kindness towards bringing a change to these people is commendable and heart-warming… May he prosper furthermore ❤
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September 7, 2018 at 10:40 am
Indeed! I love hearing about people like him. Restores my faith in people.
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September 8, 2018 at 5:03 am
It does mine too… 😊❤
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September 7, 2018 at 1:26 pm
What a beautiful person. He is a living angel.
Alison
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September 7, 2018 at 3:10 pm
Isn’t he wonderful?
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September 7, 2018 at 1:41 pm
I do know about this and think it is wonderful. Then…we have those two who stole all of the go-fund money from someone who they had started it for. Takes all kind of people for this world to go around but some of them we could do without.
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September 7, 2018 at 3:11 pm
I know what you mean. I can’t imagine what kind of karma is waiting for those two. I’m kind of sorry I can’t watch.
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September 15, 2018 at 9:58 am
Wow. Awesome!!
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September 15, 2018 at 12:07 pm
It is sweet.
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