On the Home Front

Riveria Sun Unveiling Web

Over twenty years ago, when AWTT artist Robert Shetterly began this portrait project to help himself cope with the United States’ bombing of Iraq, he didn’t anticipate the number of portraits that would follow, nor where they would take him. In the beginning, a few local schools and churches—curious about his project—invited him to talk […]

A Journey of Peace and Friendship

Land Peace Foundation Walk Small

The Land Peace Foundation, founded by Sherri Mitchell Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset, is organizing a week-long walk, beginning on the banks of the Penobscot River and ending at the Maine capitol building. (The following information about the walk comes from the Land Peace Foundation website.) “The journey begins on April 22nd at the Penobscot Nation Boat Landing […]

Artist Robert Shetterly’s post-election interview in Atlantic City

Howard Zinn Awtt Portrait

In November 2024 – just days after the national election – AWTT artist Robert Shetterly was interviewed by journalist Steve Adubato in Atlantic City at the New Jersey Education Association Convention. In this riveting discussion, Shetterly shares his perspectives on the present moment through the lens of some of his most inspiring portrait subjects, including […]

Enter MY HERO Project’s Student Portrait Contest

My Hero Project 2024

The MY HERO Project has opened its invitation to enter the 2025 Robert Shetterly Portrait Contest. Submissions are due by May 1, 2025. Students of all ages are invited to submit portraits representing “someone you admire who has done something significant – for you, for your community, or for our planet.” Each work of art […]

Why I Painted Joan Gussow: The Time Has Come For Local Agriculture

Joan Gussow Awtt Portrait

As we remember Joan Gussow, who died last Friday, March 7, we dusted off the statement that Robert Shetterly wrote when he unveiled his portrait of Gussow ten years ago, in January 2015. “Joan Dye Gussow will be eighty-seven this year. I visited her last August at her lovely home on the Hudson River north of […]

Teacher Caitlin Hutt and the Samantha Smith Challenge project receive AMLE award

Caitlin Hutt

The Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) has announced Caitlin Hutt and the Samantha Smith Challenge project as the 2024 recipient of the Conrad Toepfer Award for the Civic Engagement of Middle School Students. “Since 2018, Caitlin has used the Samantha Smith Challenge to provide her students with a collaborative educational experience that builds bridges […]

AWTT Remembers Cecile Richards

Cecile Richards Awtt Portrait

Cecile Richards, who died today, was indeed a “model of courageous citizenship.” Richards began her political career at an early age, wearing a black armband to school, in protest of the Vietnam War. In seventh grade, she and some friends started a recycling program in their neighborhood. Richards also took a lead from her politically […]

Going Local: Martin Luther King Day Celebration

Martin Luther King Jr Awtt Portrait

About fifty area residents gathered at the Reversing Falls Sanctuary in North Brooksville, Maine, on Sunday afternoon, January 19, 2025, to celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It’s an annual event and often features some of AWTT artist Robert Shetterly’s paintings. Shetterly lives just down the road and knows most […]

Robert Shetterly on Maine Voices Live

Robert Headshot

On December 4, 2024, AWTT artist Robert Shetterly sat down with Judith Meyer, Sun Journal Executive Editor, to talk about the comprehensive exhibit of his 276 portraits at the Bates Mill Complex atrium in Lewiston, Maine. Shetterly described his 23 years of portrait painting as a “therapy project” and a period of intense self-education. Although […]

Opening reception at Bates Mill portrait exhibit

Sherri Mitchell Awtt Portrait

The AWTT exhibit of all 275 portraits opened on November 15, 2024 at the Bates Mill Complex in Lewiston, Maine. Artist Robert Shetterly was moved by the visual effect of all of his portraits on display in the beautifully renovated Bates Mill Complex atrium and credited Kevin Callahan for designing and hanging the show. In […]

Buy your AWTT Courage is Contagious protest wear today!