Painting with a Purpose

Jenny Hereth is an artist, a retired professor, and the daughter of a Lutheran minister—and she’s spent much of her 40-year career using her art to speak out on social justice issues. Now, she’s turning her creativity into action by pledging 100% of the proceeds from her new art book, My Brush – My Voice, to Global Refuge.

“I hope people who purchase my book will gain a greater understanding of how and why an artist makes paintings about social justice and refugee justice,” Jenny says. “I hope they will feel proud to know their purchase makes them part of and ‘welcomed’ into the Global Refuge family.”

During her decades as a professor, Jenny says she never shied away from bringing up topics of faith, humanitarianism, and social justice into the classroom. “With the opportunity to teach across the globe, I became intimately involved in helping with refugee journeys—getting people safely to the United States to join family members. It became an important part of my role as a professor.”

That conviction extended beyond the walls of academia. In addition to supporting refugee resettlement efforts in the U.S., Jenny also helped establish a community center in a bomb crater in Sri Lanka after the country’s 30-year war left many children orphaned and citizens injured.

These experiences have shaped her artwork over the years. One day in 2021, while watching the news of Afghan refugees trying to board planes to escape danger, Jennifer began to paint. The abstract painting depicted a row of black-clad figures marching across the canvas with the form of a hand reaching out. She titled the piece, We Will Hold You, Refugees—part of a 12-painting series on the refugee experience. The series later sold as a group for $6,000, which Jenny donated to support Ukrainian refugees.

Jenny says she chose to support Global Refuge with the proceeds of her book because we are an organization that mirrors her values and beliefs. She hopes her new book and her partnership with Global Refuge will inspire others to get involved, too.

“When I read your mission statement and core values, the word that stood out to me was ‘welcome.’ It’s the perfect word to describe the sense of justice at the core of my art and my faith,” she says. “I hope my friends, students and fellow artists become supporters of Global Refuge because everyone knows in their heart what it feels like to be welcomed.”

You can find My Brush – My Voice on Amazon.