Shetterly Lecture: Art in an Age of Democratic Upheaval
Robert Shetterly will deliver the Center for Global Humanities Lecture, at Innovation Hall on the University of New England Portland Campus, on Sunday, January, 26, 2026, at 6 p.m.
The event, including a reception at 5 p.m, is free and open to the public. The lecture will be live streamed.
“Maine artist Robert Shetterly will tell the story of his Americans Who Tell the Truth portrait project, which endeavors to create a healing community of truth tellers who insist that the United States lives up to its ideals. Since it began two decades ago, the project has promoted positive citizenship in more than 40 US states, engaging viewers in contemplation of issues involving race, materialism, women’s rights, climate stewardship and environmental sustainability, disabilities, militarism, and more.
“When he visits CGH, Shetterly will highlight portraits that explore the nature of power, the power of resistance, how people tend to emphasize the rule of law only when it’s convenient, how the ethics of capitalism have undermined the ethics of democracy, and how a political system beholden to financial interests is vulnerable to failure.
“Shetterly will demonstrate the capacity of art as both medium and message in a talk framed around the inspiring stories of portrait subjects whose courage, perseverance, and love of justice light a way forward. Throughout the talk, he will project images of portraits while telling the stories of their subjects and investigating the issues that motivated them to embody true American patriotism.”
