Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and AWTT

Sojourner Truth Awtt Portrait

Right below the surface, like the rotting body of a drowned Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon, is the stinking, smug racism of Donald Trump as he attempts to remove institutionalized efforts toward Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) from governmental, educational, and corporate practice. He wants white people to feel victimized by DEI – as though five-hundred […]

The Exaltation of Ego and a Coup, January 20, 2025

Justice Louis Brandeis Awtt Portrait

“Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. . . . Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a law-breaker, it breeds contempt for the law: it invites every man to become a law unto himself, it invites anarchy.” – Louis Brandeis Friends, I just watched the second inauguration of Donald Trump. I suspect  many […]

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 […]

Changemakers of the Twenty-First Century

Michelle Alexander Awtt Portrait

Vanderbuilt University hosts fifteen Americans Who Tell the Truth portraits from January 23-April 17, 2025. Located at VU’s s Curb Center, 1801 Edgehill Avenue, the exhibition will be open to the public Monday–Thursday, 10 am–4 pm, and by appointment (closed during the school’s spring break, March 10–14). “This exhibit highlights Americans who have impacted the […]

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 […]

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