Giving Back · Community · Art Diplomacy
Art as a
Force for Good
Beyond galleries and stages, Gregory has spent decades using art as a vehicle for community and compassion — painting murals in disaster-affected towns, mentoring children with disabilities across Asia, and receiving international recognition for his contributions to arts education and humanitarian outreach.
Four Decades On
Oceania · USA
Art Diplomacy 2022
Cultural Program · China
Art Diplomacy · Europe · 2022
Beyond Boundaries — Art Workshops for Ukrainian Refugees
Gregory said yes before he knew what he was getting into. What he expected to be a few sessions handing paint and brushes to children turned into a three-week, three-country mission — initiated by the US Embassy in Prague — spanning Serbia, Germany and the Czech Republic. Royal Talens donated art kits for 200 students before he'd even packed his bag.
US Embassy Prague · 3 Countries · 3 Murals · 5 Art Workshops · 2 Keynote Talks · 200 Students · Royal Talens Partnership
Serbia
Novi Sad
Designed and painted a large mural on the wall of the Novi Sad Youth Center alongside six local artists — completed in three days. A conversation about wars, borders, and internet access with the students.
Germany
Berlin
Three workshops for Ukrainian youth (ages 6–16) alongside their German schoolmates. A keynote talk for Ukrainian mothers at a local church hall. Art donated: ‘It’s Going to Be OK’ — 40×40in mixed media on canvas — gifted to the Berlin school.
Czech Republic
Olomouc
Together with Yosifu — a Taiwanese artist — and 18 Ukrainian students, repainted a local bus stop inside and out in a single day. The students had free reign: they left their mark on Olomouc — and on their own clothes and sneakers too.
Artwork Donated · Berlin 2022
‘It’s Going to Be OK’
Created during the Berlin workshops and donated to the school as a lasting gesture of solidarity — with the Ukrainian children who had fled a war, and the German classmates who opened their doors to receive them.
“These programs validated my core belief that art can bring people to a happy place in their lives. A few hours playing with paints and friends had a strong positive impact on the lives of these children. And though paint and paintings may never end wars, they can help soften the blows and bring color back into our lives.”
Gregory Burns — June 2022Philanthropy in Action · Selected Films
Seen Through a Camera. Felt in a Room.
Art with Ukrainian Refugee Children
Singapore · Gregory & Angie Burns
Mentoring By Example — ‘Super Clinic’
Beijing Television · 2015
Live Oak School Mural
Community Mural Project
Painting a Bus Stop with Ukrainian Refugees
Prague, Czech Republic · 2022
Kesennuma, Miyagi · Japan · 2012
Rebuilding Through Art — After the Tsunami
In March 2011, the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami devastated the coastal city of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture. Over 1,000 residents lost their lives. The city would spend years rebuilding what the sea had taken.
In 2012, Gregory traveled to Kesennuma as part of an arts outreach program in partnership with Shangri-La Hotels — painting a large community mural alongside the local children. The work became a record of the community’s collective dreams: home, bridge, peace, safety.
The finished 4×8ft diptych ‘Wish for Kesennuma’ now holds a permanent place in the collection of the Rias Ark Museum of Art, Miyagi.
Beijing · 2015 · Disability & Mentorship
Mentoring By Example — ‘Super Clinic’ Beijing Television
In 2015, Gregory was invited to mentor a 12-year-old boy from Hunan, living with what appeared to be polio — an experience captured by Beijing Television that touched audiences across China.
The Super Clinic segment showed that shining a light on the lives of people with disabilities can bring about change in public perceptions. The broadcast reached millions of viewers and drew widespread attention to the transformative potential of creative mentorship for young people navigating physical challenges.
Gregory has been mentoring less advantaged groups and individuals through disability awareness programs since 1984 — across schools, clubs, Embassies and organizations around the world.
Three Decades · Global Commitment
A Career Built on Giving Back
Philanthropy is not a chapter of Gregory’s story — it is woven through every decade of it. From disability mentorship in the 1980s to art diplomacy in European refugee centers in 2022, the commitment has never wavered.
Giving Back
Gregory is committed to giving back to communities across the globe through his work as a Corporate Social Responsibility and Diversity Ambassador for various corporations, social service organizations and the US Embassy. He believes that art, at its most honest, can uplift. Projects have included art programs for children displaced by the Fukushima disaster, a painting workshop at FuDan University Shanghai’s leukemia ward for children in partnership with Shangri-La Hotels, and fundraising programs for VSA Singapore, March of Dimes, Club Rainbow, The Cancer Society, and Teach Me School.
Mentorship
Since 1984, Gregory has mentored less advantaged groups and individuals through Disability Awareness Programs and Motivational Keynote Presentations for numerous schools, clubs and organizations across the globe. Decades of showing up, long before it had a name.
Cultural Ambassador — US Embassy China
From 2011 to 2014, the United States Embassy in China sent Gregory to six cities across the country, including Mongolia, to present two dozen talks and workshops — bringing art, resilience and connection to schools, students and community organizations throughout the country.
Journeys — Singapore to Sydney, Australia
Conceived and implemented in partnership with Credit Suisse and VSA Singapore, Journeys brought together a dozen disabled and able-bodied children from Singapore for a week-long painting expedition to Sydney, Australia. On their return, Christie’s held a charity auction of the children’s finished works at the Singapore Art Museum — with Ho Ching as guest of honor. Proceeds went to VSA Singapore’s ongoing community programs.
“Gregory is literally the pied piper. If you could have seen how quickly he engaged the kids at the school — you’d be blown away. By the end of the whole experience, they were asking for his autograph and wanted their photos taken with him. Gregory and Angie are a gifted couple who so generously share of themselves, and it’s evident in the way they draw people to them like magnets and transform them in the process.”
Sujata Narayan Director, Corporate Citizenship — Equinix
International Recognition · Taiwan
Global Love of Lives Award
The Chou Da Kuan Foundation’s Fervent Global Love of Lives Medal was presented to Gregory in 2010 at a reception with President Ma at Taiwan’s Presidential Palace — alongside a dozen other recipients recognized for humanitarian service. Awardees were invited to speak at schools across the island and at a children’s cancer ward, sharing messages of hope and perseverance with hundreds of young people. It is recognition not of a single act, but of four decades of showing up: in disaster zones, in schools, in refugee centers, and in the quiet spaces where art does its most essential work.
CSR Ambassador Profile
Download the Full Profile
A summary of Gregory’s CSR and Diversity Ambassador work — suitable for corporate partnership and program proposals.
Download CSR Profile PDFArt has always been Gregory’s most honest language.
Whether on a gallery wall or a school floor, the act of making something together changes what is possible between people.