“AMERICANS WHO TELL THE TRUTH” CULTURAL, HISTORIC AND EDUCATIONAL TRAVELING ART EXHIBIT TO VISIT GREENSBORO, NC DURING MULTI-CITY TOUR
(Exhibit on Display at Int’l Civil Rights Center & Museum Nov. 14 thru Feb. 13, 2016)
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Americans Who Tell the Truth (americanswhotellthetruth.org ), a collection of portraits painted by nationally-acclaimed cultural and educational artist Robert Shetterly, is coming to Greensboro’s International Civil Rights Center & Museum in downtown Greensboro, beginning Nov. 14, 2015. The traveling exhibit encourages civic engagement for all citizens, and is especially designed as a youth-centric inspirational event. The upcoming N.C. show of the Americans Who Tell the Truth (AWTT) project centers around 52 beautiful, realistic, full-color and larger-than-life sized portraits of leading American heroes and heroines. Each of these outstanding individuals has distinguished themselves as voices for human rights, social justice and equality for all. The exhibit will be on display at the museum from Nov. 14 thru Feb. 13, 2016.
“The Americans Who Tell the Truth project was conceived of post 9/11, and brought to life by Maine-based artist Robert Shetterly,” said Ellie Richard, the North Carolina project coordinator for Americans Who Tell the Truth. “Rob knows that his work—coupling the power of art with very real individual human stories that highlight issue-based courageous citizens with exemplary values, morals and ethics—can serve as a powerful vehicle to inspire and call forward a new generation of engaged Americans.”
To date, Shetterly and his portraits have been invited into schools, museums and a multitude of civic organizations. Various exhibition iterations have been displayed in 27 states and Washington, D.C. The Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows program promotes him as a speaker through the Council of Independent Colleges. In addition, AWTT has collaborated with a number of diverse organizations that work to promote positive citizen engagement through education and the media. Portraits in the ever-expanding collection include luminaries such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglas, Dwight Eisenhower, Malcolm X, Woody Guthrie, Helen Keller and Pete Seeger, as well as many lesser-known courageous models. Americans Who Tell the Truth is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit arts and education organization, the mission of which is to foster and inspire “a profound sense of citizenship” by exposing students at all levels to critical issues that have and continue to confront us as Americans. For more information about the exhibit, contact Ellie Richard, Independent Educational Consultant – Education for Engaged Activism at (336) 451-2846 or via email: [email protected]. The exhibit’s official website is: www.americanswhotellthetruth.org.
The International Civil Rights Center and Museum—founded in 1993 and opened in 2010—is located in the historic 1929 F.W. Woolworth building in Greensboro, North Carolina, known for the iconic non-violent protests of the “sit-in movement” that served as a catalyst in the civil rights movement of the South. The Museum complex includes
30,000 square feet of exhibit space, and features 14 signature exhibits devoted to chronicling the struggle for human and civil rights. The Museum’s focal point is the original lunch counter and stools where North Carolina A&T’s students, the “Greensboro Four” began their protest against racial segregation on Feb. 1, 1960, in Greensboro, NC. For more information, visit www.sitinmovement.org and follow the museum on Twitter @sitinmuseum.
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‘AMERICANS WHO TELL THE TRUTH’ – EXHIBIT QUOTATIONS
John L. Swaine – CEO, International Civil Rights Center & Museum
“The International Civil Rights Center & Museum is pleased to host the Americans Who Tell the Truth exhibit as part of our ongoing mission to be an exhibiting, collecting, and educational institution. This profoundly moving exhibit showcases portraits of courageous leaders who similarly champion the causes of justice and equality for all.”
Dr. Margaret Arbuckle – Public Education Advocate, Former Director Guilford Education Alliance
“The Americans Who Tell the Truth exhibit is a powerful exhibit of portraits of important Americans’ faces with quotes about their work and their interpretation why their work is important for the larger society. When I first entered the room, with these pictures “looking at me,” I was overcome with the TRUTH that is in each one of the faces. These people depict the best of the American values: respect for all, justice for all, equality of opportunity for all… all things we struggle to encompass in today’s world.”
Rob Shetterly – Artist
“The Americans Who Tell the Truth portraits have now been in more than thirty states, but nowhere have they been
received with more purpose and embraced with such enthusiasm as in North Carolina. From young people inspired to make portraits of the truth tellers in their own lives—to older people employing them to confront critical, ongoing issues—the reception has been terrific. I am looking forward with great anticipation to the opening of the exhibit at the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro. And I am deeply grateful to all the people who have helped make this a reality.”
Ellie Richard – Education Consultant and Exhibit Host
“I am profoundly grateful for Robert Shetterly and his courageous and visionary collection of moral truth-telling portrait subjects. Through organizing this exhibit in Greensboro, I’ve had the honor of working with dynamic, determined, and generous activists from varying organizations, ages, backgrounds and life circumstances, and this process has been both enlightening and inspiring. In support of this great work, we are thankful and fortunate to have two outstanding locations where the exhibit will be displayed: The International Civil Rights Center & Museum and Guilford College. We are confident this exhibit will encourage others to find and tell their truth.”
Tom Daugherty – Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator, Guilford County Schools
“We are excited that students will have the opportunity to dive deeper into the contributions of individuals who
worked to make our nation what it is today. Through the Americans Who Tell the Truth Exhibit and website, students can see the impact one person can make when they stand for something greater than themselves. The individuals featured in the exhibit are often overlooked in history classes, so it is exciting to be able to highlight them and their contributions to our society today.”
Mrs. Charlos Smith Banks – Executive Director of Student Services and Character Development
“I was delighted to attend the September luncheon with AWTT artist, Rob Shetterly. I really enjoyed meeting Mr. Shetterly and seeing the amazing historical narratives he has captured through his artwork. His is such a subtle, but powerful voice of advocacy for courageous acts of humankind.”
Nathan Street – Guilford County Schools Arts Education Coordinator
“We are thrilled with the wonderful participation we have received in the Truth Tellers Speak Art Exhibition. Students have the opportunity to investigate the characteristics of those individuals in their lives who have displayed courage and commitment; and then capture those individuals in a work of art that will convey the story of their convictions. It is truly an authentic learning experience for our students.”