23 years of making dreams come true
Paint a Future
Paint a Future was founded in 2000 by artist Hetty van der Linden. All over the world she paints with children in disadvantaged situations. She asks the children to paint their dreams, imagining that the paintbrush is a wand with which they can make their dreams come true.
Renowned artists from dozens of countries are inspired by the children’s drawings and literally incorporate such a drawing into their own painting. The paintings are sold and with the proceeds the dreams of the children are realized. With a painting from Paint a Future, there is not only a beautiful work of art hanging on your wall. You also give a child the chance for a better future!
Benefit concert tonight for the Children in Madagascar
7 December - 2023
In 2006 the Paint a Future team, consisting of Hetty van der Linden and director and cameraman Titus Tiel Groenestege, decided to go to the island of Madagascar to start up a volunteer project. Without knowing the language, or knowing anyone at all, they walked down the street in Madagascar and decided to ask some locals where they could find people that did something with art and music. Within the same night, they found Sammy and Bosco!
Pretty much since the first day of arriving in Madagascar, there was a spontaneous collaboration between the music band of Sammy and Bosco (called Tarika Sammy) and the Paint a Future team. The team received a lot of help from Sammy and Bosco to help improve the lives of children in Madagascar. Together with the homeless children of Madagascar, they made three video clips from which a cd with songs originated as well. In the end, almost 4000 copies were sold as a part of a Christmas package that was sold in the Netherlands. Additionally, they went to the village Beloha to make music with the children there and to let them paint their dreams. The art created by the children was worked into paintings by artists to be sold in the Netherlands and Madagascar. With the revenues generated through these projects, Paint a Future and Sammy & Bosco were able to do many things. The money was spent on building a school and homes in Madagascar, and sending other resources to the village of Beloha. Pretty much everything was filmed by Titus Tiel Groenestege on camera and can be found on Youtube, just click here.
Tonight, a benefit organised by Monica Akihary (winner of the Boy Edgar award) and her band Boiakih for the children in Madagascar will be held at The Tanker in Noord. Starting at 20.30, the event will be filled with live music from Tsammy Tsara Tsara and other musicians to raise money. There will also be paintings from the Paint a Future artists that have incorperated the dreams of the children in Madagascar. All in all an event that you do not want to miss!! Click the button below to see more information on the event!
Christmas promotion 2023
Discover 10 paintings for free for a year and buy 2 forever!
Select 10 paintings from the exposition and hang them on your walls for a year. At the end of this period you select 2 paintings to buy and to make the dreams of those kids come true.
About the founder
Hetty van der Linden
This artist travels around the world, speaks all possible languages: the internationally famous Hetty van der Linden.
Her work is represented in various collections: from Buenos Aires, New York, Paris, Madrid to Croatia. She is a globetrotter who feels very committed to underprivileged children all over the world.
Hetty van der Linden uses her art to generate money from the rich west to underprivileged children in the rest of the world. She visits these children all over the world and paints with them. These works are then sold, after which the proceeds benefit the makers. The aim is for these children to express their dreams and to develop these dreams through the proceeds.
In addition to these children’s projects, Hetty van der Linden also makes a lot of her own work, inspired by her years of residence in Spain.
Her work clearly shows Mediterranean influences. The use of color is very striking and the way in which the figures are distributed over the surface in particular looks very festive. Women with red dresses and bulls in the background are unmistakable of Spanish origin.
Together we stand strong
Paper captures a child’s dream
Travels throughout the world
Meets the canvas of a painter
Touches the heart of the buyer
And fulfills a dream of a better life
1000
and more children
23
Countries
102
Renowned Artists
23
Years and countimg
Paint a Future
Paint a Future was founded in 2000 by artist Hetty van der Linden. All over the world she paints with children in disadvantaged situations. She asks the children to paint their dreams, imagining that the paintbrush is a wand with which they can make their dreams come true.
Sail a Future
Children’s dreams carried by the wind. Sailing ships sail all over the world, each with their own mission, but also to make children’s dreams come true. Children paint and write their thoughts about the future of our planet and the oceans on used, weathered sails. Bags are made from this, which carry the messages from the children so that the shopping bags become dream carriers.
Sing a Future
Feiko de Leeuw wrote a song csalled “Sing a Future” dedicated to all children across the world. After a few years, it has been sung in many languages by children of different backgrounds from very far apart places, mirroring the diversity of this world. Uniting the children, the song uses the artistic text “Can you see me? Can you hear me? I am here for you.”
Dance a Future
In the Dominican Republic, two large sails of the Tres Hombres ship were painted by pupils of the National Dance School. They danced on the sails with paint under their feet under the guidance of Stephanie Bauger. This was filmed and later projected on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. During the famous Salon d’Automne, the film of the dominican dancers was projected on canvas.