The toll will be particularly difficult on the surviving children of Haiti. As UNICEF Executive Director, Ann Veneman, noted earlier this week, many Haitian children have become separated from their families and caregivers, and face ”increased risks of malnutrition and disease, trafficking, sexual exploitation and serious emotional trauma.”

Yesterday, UNICEF reported that some young people in Haiti are using art to help cope with the devastation and trauma. Artists like 18-year old Bruno Rene are working with paint and papier-mâché to help express their feelings. Bruno and his classmates have been spending their days at the Art Creation Foundation for Children in Jacmel, Haiti to paint what they are seeing around them. “By night, they return to their displaced families.”

Organizers of the Haitian art program “hope the art activities will help students process some of the trauma they have experienced.” UNICEF has found that “these activities can provide a critically important support structure for children and young people in the wake of a disaster, when much of the world they knew before has been shattered.”

My heart goes out to the people of Haiti, and particularly its children. I applaud organizations like UNICEF, which seeks to ease the suffering of children in 190 countries. And, I applaud its use of art as a creative healing agent.

There are many worthy organizations to which you or your company can give to help Haiti in its unprecedented hour of need. One important way you can help is by giving to UNICEF.

I know Ann Veneman personally and her commitment to UNICEF, and its commitment to children. Click here to learn more and to donate.

Located in the eclectic Dupont Circle area of our nation’s capital, Duncan Phillips (1886-1966) established the museum as a memorial to his father and brother who died, respectively, in 1917 and 1918. The brothers both went to Yale, were very close, and shared an interest in modern art. “Sorrow all but overwhelmed me,” Duncan Phillips later wrote. “Then I turned to my love of painting for the will to live.”

Over the next five decades, Phillips collected a broad representation of both impressionist and modern art – including works from European and American artists. The museum has showcased works of Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Klee, Henri Matisse, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Winslow Homer, Thomas Eakins, John Marin, and James Abbott McNeill Whistler.

Today, the Phillips Collection is a model for other museums to follow – giving back to the nation and the DC community through education and outreach to nearly 90,000 children, teachers and families each year. The museum’s programs seek to leverage the “magic of the arts” to inspire creative expression, the development of critical literacy skills, and lifelong learning. Phillips’s upcoming Annual Gala on May 15 raises money to help fund these very worthwhile causes.

The magic of the arts can also transform individuals in the workplace. Inspiration from present-day and past artists can provide a mighty catalyst for more inspired products and services. Putting your employees in creative environments can pay dividends for your company or organization. Learn from innovators like Duncan Phillips who used loss and adversity to break from the pack and turn a passion into a life-changing experience.

The article highlights top companies which are finding ways to spur innovation by taking employees out of their comfort zones, creating new ways to compensate employees for greater achievement, breaking down traditional organizational barriers for increased performance, and leveraging the latest Web 2.0 social networking and wiki tools to enhance collaboration.

New Lantern is a business innovation consulting firm that is perfectly situated to help your company or organization change its game in all of these areas and more.