PHOTOS: Little painters, big project

First- and fifth-graders, and their chaperons, from Palisades Elementary Charter School get a preview of a painted panel that will go on a lifeguard tower. They are helping nonprofit Portraits of Hope on a public art project to decorate more than 150 towers on L.A. County beaches. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

March 7, 2014 4:13 AM PT

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From left, Grant Ebner, Elise Angelich and Nina Polishook use rollers and paintbrushes to color in panels that have been pre-printed with stylized black outlines of flowers. They are among about 5,000 youngsters expected to participate in the project. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

The lifeguard tower idea was conceived by brothers Ed and Bernie Massey, founders of Portraits of Hope, a nonprofit that develops large-scale, hands-on art projects for adults and children many of them coping with poverty, serious illness or disabilities. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Portraits of Hope co-founder Ed Massey gives instructions on the project, which is called “Summer of Color -- Lifeguard Towers of Los Angeles” and goes on exhibit in May. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

The painters took over a building of the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors in Marina del Rey on a Friday morning. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Kids get busy painting. Portraits of Hopes high-profile public art projects serve as creative therapy and teach students about involvement in civic activities, co-founder Ed Massey said. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)