About Us

Heart Gallery New York is a collaboration between the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) and Heart Gallery NYC, with the participation of five Heart Galleries throughout New York. Featuring the photographic images of New York children in foster care in need of loving, permanent homes, the mission of Heart Gallery New York is to raise awareness of New York’s waiting children, engage the community in their welfare and secure permanent, loving “forever families.”

Our History

On March 29, 2001, at the suggestion of a Santa Fe photographer, an adoption worker at the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department brought the expression "a picture is worth a thousand words" to life.  The nation's first Heart Gallery exhibit featured compelling portraits of waiting children in the hopes of finding loving adoptive families. The exhibit was a resounding success, attracting more than 1,200 visitors and initiating the adoptions of six waiting children.

National media attention generated because of the project’s success resulted in a virtual explosion of Heart Gallery groups across America, where over 100,000 foster children are waiting to be adopted. Today there are nearly 100 Heart Galleries throughout the United States.

The Heart Gallery has been featured on CNN, The Today Show, The View, 20/20, NBC, CBS, NPR and many other media outlets. Thousands of children have found their forever families as a direct result of Heart Gallery exhibitions.