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Carnegie Vanguard High School junior Mackenzie Aden went above and beyond her assignment when she embarked on her junior year research project, Hobo Chic Gallery Walk.

Aden was able to convince Archway Gallery to donate their gallery for a one-night exhibition and fundraiser on Feb. 25. Collaborating with her peers, she organized an exhibition of nearly two dozen photographs created by teens representing their ideas about homelessness. In addition, members of the gallery donated works of art for a silent auction benefitting Star of Hope, a community dedicated to meeting the needs of homeless men, women, and their children.

Carnegie junior Zoe Herring designed and created the ingenious framework for displaying the photographs, which included pictures not only of homeless people on the street but families at Star of Hope as well. Other students dressed up as homeless people and stood in the windows of the gallery as guests arrived.

The event raised approximately $1,300 to benefit the charity.