From the Americans Who Tell the Truth series

“My work offers a link between the community of people who struggled for justice in our past and the community of people who are doing it now. To participate in that struggle can be very hard, but it is also a place to find deep friendship, shared courage, respect and dignity. And, only by participating in that struggle will we find hope, or deserve to.” — Robert Shetterly

Robert Shetterly’s portraits highlight citizens who courageously address issues of social, environmental, and economic fairness. We brought back this popular series with an entirely different collection of portraits from those we exhibited in 2010. This work, 24 portraits selected from over 200 paintings in the Americans Who Tell The Truth series, centered around the theme of “Finding Your Power” and included portraits of several Central New York activists painted as a result of Shetterly’s time in Syracuse. It highlighted many individuals of humble beginnings who, despite their circumstance, or in some cases because of it, realized their power to affect change through their activism.

The ArtRage Twenty-four: Michelle Alexander, Will Allen, Esther Attean, Bill Ayers, Ella Baker, Phil Berrigan, Majora Carter, Ceasar Chavez, Louis Clark, Claudette Colvin, Tim DeChristopher, Lois Gibbs, Fannie Lou Hamer, Oren Lyons, Nicole & Jonas Maines, Ray McGovern, Bob Moses, Alice Paul, Ai-Jen Poo, Alice Rothchild, Bayard Rustin, Mara Sapon-Shevin, Sandra Steingraber, and Kim Wasserman.

To learn more about the series visit the Americans Who Tell The Truth website.

This exhibition was made possible, in part, by funding from
the County of Onondaga, administered by CNY Arts.

Special thanks to Professor James A. Clark & Dr. Julia Ganson,
the College of Visual and Performing Arts, and the School of Education
at Syracuse University for their collaboration on this exhibition.

EXHIBITION SPONSORS:
Anonymous, Julia Ganson, Gegensatz Press, Barbara & Barry Gordon,
Kip & Terry Hargrave, Wendy Harris, Larry Hoefler, Jack Mannion,
Donna & Phil Muhs-McCarten, Mara Sapon-Shevin & Karen Sayers,
Jill Spellman, Ann Tiffany & Ed Kinane and Carmen Viviano-Crafts