I painted Jonathan Kozol, educator, writer and champion of inner-city schools, in 2004. At that time I had resolved to paint 50 people with whom I could surround myself, people whose struggles toinsist that we live up to our proclaimed ideals of justice and equality had made a difference, people who modeled the courageous citizenship […]
Students at Hampden Academy in Hampden, Maine recently engaged in a collaborative, station-based exploration of “Courageous Citizens” through student artwork and four Americans Who Tell the Truth portraits. Through structured discussion, close looking, and reflective writing, social studies and art students analyzed how AWTT portrait subjects used their voices to create change and then considered […]
The Brooklin School – a small elementary school in rural Maine – hosted eight AWTT portraits in March 2026. The “truth teller” portraits ranged from artists to civil rights leaders to scientists. AWTT artist Shetterly visited the students early in the month, introducing them to the portraits and engaging them in conversation about how committed […]
On March 25, 2026, Robert Shetterly unveiled his portrait of Lucy Meyer, an international advocate and spokesperson for young people with disabilities. The unveiling was a featured event of the Addison County Youth Citizen Summit, an all-day gathering in Middlebury, Vermont. Sponsored by the Addison Central School District and Middlebury College, the Summit brought together […]
Just a few weeks ago we removed the portrait of Noam Chomsky from the AWTT gallery because of his association with the sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein. As far as we know Chomsky himself was not involved in sexual abuse of girls, but he assisted Epstein in protecting his reputation from negative exposure. Even though Chomsky […]
All my pretty ones?Did you say all? O hell-kite! All?What, all my pretty chickens and their damAt one fell swoop? – Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act IV, Scene 3 One of the hardest truths to understand about Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza is the deliberate targeting of children. Children and babies have been bombed, burned, mutilated—killed […]
When I was a college student in the late 1960s in Boston, I went to a teach-in at the Brattle Theater in Cambridge to hear Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky talk about the context of the Vietnam War—the history of the United States backing French colonialism in Vietnam, and, after the defeat of the French […]
AWTT artist Robert Shetterly delivered this address to an in-house and online audience at the Center for Global Humanities, University of New England, on the evening of January 28, 2026. Some video highlights: Shetterly’s reflections on L. Frank Baum’s original story The Wonderful Wizard of Oz—focusing on Dorothy’s act of “radical compassion” (saving her dog), […]
When I was just a baby, my mama told me, “SonAlways be a good boy, don′t ever play with guns”But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.When I hear that whistle blowin’, I hang my head and cry (oh yeah!) – Johnny Cash, Folsom Prison Blues One of the curious aspects […]
Ever since discovering playground kickball in the second grade, I have loved sports. In high school I ran track (a mediocre 400 meters), played football (a decent linebacker), basketball (a good corner jump shot), and baseball (always a little afraid of line drives). I loved the competition, the practice—loved improving my competence, loved team camaraderie. I enjoyed […]