Truth Tellers in Honor of Women’s History Month

Last night I was privileged to attend a small reception and discussion with Senator Amy Klobuchar, Cokie Roberts and artist Robert Shetterly to kick-off Women’s History Month and the new exhibition “Americans Who Tell the Truth”. The event, discussion and exhibition was held at the Sewell-Belmont House, which as many of you know is dedicated to telling the story of the women’s suffrage movement and honoring women who celebrate progress towards equality www.sewallbelmont.org.

Robert Shetterly's portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt

I was fortunate to have a few minutes of conversation with Mr. Shetterly last night and found him a fascinating individual who gave me permission to post his work on our blog.

He began his artistic career as a surrealist painter but found himself in 2001, after the current events –9-11 Attacks, US foreign policy, conservation, economic injustice – not content with that work nor content with nature of politics and the media and the truth not being told. So, out of his frustration he painted his first portrait – that of Walt Whitman – the first “truth teller”. He found this was his was to channel his anger and grief with current events. He began studying history of great “truth tellers” to include over 100 to date. Below is quote from Mr. Shetterly. I hope you will visit his website and enjoy his portraits as much as I did. http://americanswhotellthetruth.org

“I began painting this series of portraits — finding great Americans who spoke the truth and combining their images with their words — nearly three years ago as a way of to channel my anger and grief. In the process my respect and love for these people and their courage helped to transform that anger into hope and pride and allowed me to draw strength from this community of truth tellers, finding in them the courage, honesty, tolerance, generosity, wisdom and compassion that have made our country strong. One lesson that can be learned from all of these Americans is that the greatness of our country frequently depends not on the letter of the law, but the insistence of a single person that we adhere to the spirit of the law.

My original goal was to paint fifty portraits. I’ve now gone beyond that and have decided to paint several more. The more I’ve learned about American history — past and present — the more people I’ve discovered whom I want to honor in this way. The paintings will not be for sale. They will stay together as a group. The courage of these individuals needs to remain a part of a great tradition, a united effort in respect for the truth. Eventually, I will give the portraits to one museum or library on the condition that they continue to be shown. These people form the well from which we must draw our future.”