Moral Beauty and Reframing AWTT
It’s interesting how a simple well-put phrase can open our understanding, become a key to unlock a room of thoughts and feelings we didn’t even know we had. I hadn’t thought of Americans Who Tell the Truth as being in the awe business. Definitely inspiration, but not awe. Then Betty Burkes sent me a link […]
Eating an Apple on Earth Day, April 22, 2023
Before taking my border collie Chummi for a walk in the woods here in Maine in the waning, gentle afternoon light on Earth Day, I decided to have a small snack – having not eaten since breakfast. Gail had filled the fridge’s crisper with a whole bough’s profligacy of Granny Smith apples. What a gorgeous […]
Reflections on the Life of Rob McCall
Rob McCall died this morning – not unexpectedly. He had been failing for some time. His passing is a great loss to his community in Blue Hill, Maine. Also to the world. I painted his portrait five years ago, and at the unveiling of it in the Blue Hill library, with Rob there, I said, […]
Sacrifice Zones, Kids & Money
Not too many years ago, if I heard the term “sacrifice zone,” I thought it might refer to an area where rebellious people were executed, a place where a totalitarian state or group of fanatical fundamentalists lined its victims up against a wall. Or I envisioned an altar where a goat or a girl was killed […]
20th Anniversary of the Attack on Iraq
Artist Robert Shetterly reflects on why we choose to ignore our country’s war crimes, including the 2003 attack on Iraq.
Truth & Vengeance
In the late 1960s, when I was a college student, I went to a teach-in at the Brattle Theater just off Harvard Square. It was 1967, I think, in the winter, at night, standing room only. The speakers were activist writer Noam Chomsky from MIT, historian Howard Zinn from BU, and psychologist and writer Dr. […]
Dorothy, Samantha, Claudette, Barbara and Jaysa on the Yellow Brick Road
One of the great adventures in literature and myth is that of the Hero’s Journey. A person – in fairy tales it’s often a young prince, but really anyone – young or old, male or female, LGBTQ, of any race or ethnicity, sets out on a quest. The quest may be to rescue someone in […]
Children as Teachers
Artist Robert Shetterly reflects on what he learned from the Dr. Weeks Elementary School in Syracuse.
Thoughts after the Symphony
AWTT Education Director Connie Carter relates a recent AWTT book signing event to he afternoon at the symphony.
George Washington Converses with Portraits
Artist Rob Shetterly imagines the conversations among his portrait subjects and George Washington in the Maxwell School foyer at Syracuse University.