When 27 children currently in foster care in Northwest Florida recently smiled for photographers, they weren’t just aiming for a happy memory or a pretty picture.

They were hoping it would end in a forever family.

Those children, ages 4 to 17, are the subjects of this year’s “Art of Adoption: The Heart Gallery of the Gulf Coast” exhibit, which opens today at the Pensacola State College Visual Arts Gallery. The children are all clients within the FamiliesFirst Network of Lakeview who are eligible for adoption. FamiliesFirst handles foster care and adoption services in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties.

The idea of a Heart Gallery with photos of children up for adoption dates to 2001 with a project in New Mexico.  Since then, such projects have spread across the country. The Heart Gallery of the Gulf Coast dates to 2005.

 “At any one time FamiliesFirst Network has 40 to 60 children who are legally free for adoption. Each child featured in the exhibit agreed to be photographed to assist in his or her adoption recruitment,” said Peggy Custred, an adoptions specialist with FamiliesFirst Network.

“We chose these children for the exhibit as they represent the diversity of our ‘waiting children,’” she said. “However, as a whole, the exhibit emphasizes that the majority of waiting children are teenagers.”

Mark Francis is a professional photographer and the coordinator for the Photography Department at PSC. Himself an adoptee, Francis has participated in the local “Art of Adoption” project since 2006.

“I hope the photographs serve as a prompt to remind us how important family and friends are in our life,” Francis said. “It’s what I think about when I look at images of my family.  I’d like the photographs to initiate an opportunity for people to find one another.”

Custred said that since these children all have different needs, they are looking for a wide variety of prospective parents. FamiliesFirst has no expectation as to what the adoptive families should look like.

“Rather than a specific demographic we are looking for stable and mature individuals who can understand and meet the needs of children who have been traumatized by abuse, neglect or abandonment,” Custred said.

“We want families who will be unconditionally committed to our children and young adults and who can provide them a chance for a better future. Our best adoptive families are flexible, yet consistent as well as creative and patient. Having a good sense of humor helps a lot.”

Besides Francis, photographers who participated in this year’s exhibit include Kay Brown of Kay Brown Photography, Cathy Catanese of Life in Focus, Amy Hall of Amy Hall Photos, Lindsey Friar of Lindsey Friar Photography, Kelli Higgins, Amanda Rogers of Mandy Sue Photography, Michael Newman of Michael Newman Photography, Jeremy Cook of Cook Images, Jeffrey Blake Adams of Jeffrey Blake Adams Fine Art Photography, DeAnna Lambeth, Melissa Robbins and Hope Mastromonico of Hope Studio.

The artists reception for the exhibit is tonight from 6 to 8 p.m. at the gallery, which is located inside PSC’s Anna Lamar Switzer Center for Visual Arts, Building 15, on the corner of Ninth Avenue and Airport Boulevard.

The military wives club for the 479^th Air Force Support Squadron is providing refreshments for the photographers’ reception. The PSC Photography Department printed the portraits.

The Art of Adoption exhibit coincides with that of Steve McCurry, an American photojournalist best known for his 1985 National Geographic portrait, “Afghan Girl.”

Art of Adoption will be on display until early October.

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