At first glance, any two of these things go together well, with an easily seen connection. Plastic Surgery can be very much an artistic field where creativity and esthetic vision are of primary importance, and so it would be a natural fit with art. Children and art are also a natural pairing, as those of you with children know. Even Children and Plastic Surgery can be connected by birth defects, cleft lip correction and even pinning back the ears.

When I expanded Yager Esthetics for the second time, I had a dedicated free art space for Hispanic artists created within the offices. It was a great way to expose the works to the Latin community, which makes up about 95% of my patients. Through our In House Artist Program, we have hosted several events each year for the artists to explain their works, and have sold pieces at every show to date.

Our motto is “In the Community, For the Community”, and so I thought that to further help the Hispanic population, I could reach out to the children. Growing up, I always loved art. It was a way to express myself, and exploring in that medium helped all of my studies and thought processes. I was saddened to hear that art programs were being cut in the school system. The result of my brainstorming became Pequenos Picassos.

Through Pequenos Picassos, young children from single parent low income families are invited to participate in art classes with our In House Artist. They not only learn about technique, but are exposed to a Hispanic role model. Scholarship money is awarded, and money is also donated to their schools to help restore art programs. It has been incredibly rewarding for me and the participants. The response from the community has been wonderful.

Art, children, and Plastic Surgery. Now that is a combination that works well together.