In 2025, organizations in New York and Maine broke new ground – creating opportunities for their communities to experience AWTT portraits and stories outside of gallery walls. And we believe that – at least during certain months of the year – these models are easily replicable. Or perhaps your community can expand upon these examples, pushing the envelope even further.

New York John Brown Farm State Historic Site Exhibit

The first outdoor exhibit was created by the organization John Brown Lives!—the official NYS Friends Group of the John Brown Farm State Historic Site in Lake Placid, NY. The group describes itself as “a nonprofit freedom education and human rights organization that uses arts and education, advocacy and activism to engage the public in excavating useful legacies of the past in order to inspire community and civic action . . . .”

The exhibit included twenty-five high-resolution replicas of the original portraits, displayed on easel-like metal frames throughout the grounds of the historic site. These portraits were on display during most of the site’s busy season, from mid-July through the end of October.

The group also organized several special events during the course of the exhibit. The kick-off event honored civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis on the nationally organized Good Trouble Lives On Day of Action. It included an opening ceremony, a march down John Brown Farm Road and a peaceful “honk & wave” assembly.

Later in the summer AWTT artist Robert Shetterly was a guest at The Welcome Table, a dinner inspired by James Baldwin’s vision of a place where ‘all would be respected, loved, seen, known, and fed.’ Dishes paying homage to James Baldwin and Nikki Giovanni were  prepared by Chef Lewis Hughes, a descendant of Harper’s Ferry raiders Lewis Sheridan Leary and John Anthony Copeland, Jr. The dinner also featured a conversation with Shetterly, musician and AWTT portrait subject Reggie Harris and attorney Eleanor Stein around the theme of “James Baldwin’s Dream.” In a separate event, Harris – along with Kim Harris and Magpie – performed a free concert and sing-along: Americans Who Sing the Truth.

Airings of the film Truth Tellers, documenting Shetterly’s work and the stories of his portrait subjects, rounded out the menu of special events.

Learn more details in David Escobar’s interview with Shetterly for the Adirondack Explorer – also aired on North Country Public Radio.

Evening Projections in Belfast, Maine

The Maine Arts Commission, Belfast Community Media and Our Town Belfast hosted this free outdoor event on Brigham Green in Belfast, Maine on the evening of September 12, 2025. The event featured large-scale projections of AWTT portraits on a building wall after dark. It was an informal affair, with audience members scattered about on blankets and folding chairs, bundling up as as the sun was setting. According to a local newspaper article, the event was inspired by a class taught by art enthusiast Craig Watson, who had taught a course named “Creative Placemaking” at Belfast Senior College. After a 45-minute musical warm-up, Watson introduced the event, stressing the importance of community collaborations and the “activation” of community spaces. He highlighted the broad array of folks who had contributed their energy and skills to create this event, and future events. He and many others in the community are on a mission to establish Brigham Green as a comfortable and nurturing community gathering place.

Then AWTT artist Robert Shetterly took the stage and entranced the audience for most of an hour with poetry and stories of his portrait subjects, beginning with Frederick Douglass, followed by William Sloane Coffin, Arthur Miller, Rachel Corrie and many others. He ended with one of his favorite stories – about Claudette Colvin, who refused to give up her seat on the bus, thinking, “I felt like Sojourner Truth was pushing down on one shoulder and Harriet Tubman was pushing down on the other – saying. ‘Sit down girl!’ I was glued to my seat.”

This was a first for AWTT – viewing Shetterly’s beautiful portraits by large-scale projection while hearing the stories of his chosen truth tellers.

View a video of the entire event on Vimeo.

Read more details about the event at the Midcoast Villager.