Artist Robert Shetterly’s visit to the Oregon Episcopal School in Portland earlier this month was a resounding success. The school hung an exhibit of twenty portraits in their chapel during the month of May 2025 and invited Shetterly to visit for a day. The theme of the exhibit was ecojustice.

Shetterly visited classes in all three divisions of the school, joined an Upper School Chapel, and led activities, including making justice-focused art with Upper School students and a self-portrait painting class with staff members. He also spoke at an evening Dreaming Justice event in the OES Chapel that was open to the public.

Teacher Willow McCormick said, “I was very moved by Rob’s authentic curiosity, keen listening and profound stories of everyday activists. He spent an hour with Upper School students as they crafted their own messages of advocacy, exchanging ideas and making connections. He was genuine in his questions, and refreshingly frank in his responses. The same was true a day later as he guided employees through a portrait-making exercise. I left each encounter with Rob feeling reflective, grateful, and inspired.” 

Another OES teacher, May Yang, said, “One lovely connection that my students made was when Rob brought up his painting of Julia Butterfly Hill, the woman who lived in a tree for two years. The kids in my class instantly connected with Rob’s story because we read a story about Julia Butterfly Hill a couple of months ago when we were starting our biography project. The kids in my class remembered so many facts about her and were excited to share what they knew.”

Shetterly said, “I loved being at OES. I was able to meet and talk with the entire range of your students, faculty, and employees. I was especially pleased at how well prepared the students were for my visit. Their questions and thoughtful comments made my time very interesting. I was especially struck by [Head of School The Rev.] Michael Spencer’s class “Encounters,” where the students were exploring issues of deep spiritual significance. I was equally struck by [Upper School Community Engagement Coordinator] Maria McIvor’s class about producing pesto from their own-grown basil [in the OES greenhouse] to raise money for a food bank. That combination of deep thinking with social action is my definition of great education.”

Students were also delighted to learn that Shetterly had painted the portrait of Steve Ritz from the Green Bronx Machine. His school-based grandening project in New York was an inspiration to their own “Pesto for Good” project.

Reflecting on the self-portrait workshop, Chelsea Lamb, director of after-school programs, shared: “I attended the Robert Shetterly portrait session, and at first I was nervous to draw myself since I don’t usually engage in art. He put us at ease and asked us to reflect on something that gets us ‘fired up’ and then add the words to our portrait. Mine was about living a life in service. The process reminded me of a quote often painted by Cortia Kent: ‘I’d like to be able to love my country and still love justice.’ He told me that’s exactly why he started painting these portraits.”

For more details and photos of the day-long visit, go to the OES Newsletter.