Robert Shetterly's Americans Who Tell The Truth
portraits and narratives highlight citizens who courageously address issues of social, environmental, and economic fairness.
By combining art and other media, AWTT offers resources to inspire a new generation of engaged Americans who will act for the common good, our communities, and the Earth.
I teach at one of the schools which Samantha Smith attended. Because of this, when I heard about thisSamantha Smith Challenge (click to sign up your students)I was excited to learn more.
I know my time with my students will have been worthwhile if, at the end of our class, each child has grown as a citizen. I want my students to learn to be aware, empathetic, and active. The Samantha Smith Challengefits right into this approach.
Robert Shetterly's portraits cut to the chase in a compelling way. Students could access the profound sentiments that these portraits represent.
Robert’s Americans Who Tell the Truth has become a distinctive and profound way of teaching American History and American Thought...His work will help us advance towards common understanding and tolerance.
During the 2013/2014 school year, teachers Karyn Field and Sharyn Hastings used the AWTT portraits and resources to help students analyze "themes related to scapegoating, intolerance and social strife." Students wrote poems, orchestrated press conference
I am a special and regular educator in Madison, WI. My students used your images to discuss how some people choose to do amazing things with their lives: some in big ways, some in small ways, but always by finding something they believe in.
Finally, I was shown people of all backgrounds who had made a difference; finally, I found people who were so normal, who I could relate to, and yet were so profound. Suddenly, there was no more excuse.
.jpg)
Support a doc on Rob Shetterly
Award-winning filmmaker, Richard Kane, is making a documentary about Robert Shetterly and Americans Who Tell the Truth. To learn more got to www.kanelewis.com.
The Samantha Smith Challenge
Registration is open for the 2019/20 Samantha Smith Challenge, an initiative of AWTT and Maine Association for Middle Level Education (MAMLE). Get the guidelines and resources now.
Additional education projects: Check out our resources for educators to see AWTT's new, in-development project, engagEd.
Most Recent Portraits
Our full gallery now includes over 240 portraits of American truth-tellers. You can browse the full gallery. Or just begin your exploration by linking to a few of the most recent additions to the series here.
EVENTS
-
Americans Who Tell the Truth @ Charlottesville
Multiple -Hosted by Americans Who Tell the TruthPortraits L-R: John Lewis, Kelsey Juliana, Michelle Alexander, Nicole & Jonas Maines, Rev. Lennox Yearwood, & Diane Wilson A major exhibit of Robert Shetterly’s Americans Who Tell the Truth portraits will open in Charlottesville, Virginiain mid-January2020.
-
Robert Shetterly: The Role of Education in a Democracy
Waterville, MEHosted by AWTTThomas College, Waterville, ME Tuesday, November 19, 2019, 3 - 4:30 pm Join artist Robert Shetterly for a community session open to the public. The community session will pose the following question: What is the role of education in a democracy? Robert will ask attendees to create personal quotes in response to their concerns and challenges related to this question.
-
SUNY Polytech Artist's Talk
SUNY PolyJoin Robert Shetterly to hear stories about what inspires the artist and how his series of paintings came to be. Be inspired bythe remarkable truth tellers he has studied and painted. Gannett Gallery, SUNY Poly campus, 2 p.m., November 7, 2019. Exhibit runs from October 21 to December 13.
-
Robert Shetterly at the Active Bystanding and Caring Communities Symposium
Gorham, Maine -Hosted by University of Southern MaineWe are looking forward to the Active Bystanding and Caring Communities Symposium at University of Southern Maine on Thursday and Friday., October 24 and 25. Here is the schedule of events AWTTwill be participating in.
-
AWTT Exhibit at SUNY Polytechnical Institute
Utica, N. Y. -Hosted by SUNY PolySUNY Poly is hosting an exhibit of Americans Who Tell the Truth portraits from October 21 through December 13, 2019 at Gannett Art Gallery. The Gallery will be open for extended hours during this exhibit: Monday-Friday: 9 am - 7 pm Saturday and Sunday; 10-5 pm
-
Emily Bazelon touts AWTT posters as great gifts for kids
In the most recent edition of Slate's Political Gabfest, Emily Bazelon recommended AWWT posters as great inspirational gifts for kids. "So one of the super excellent presents my children received, luckily over this holiday was my sister Dana sent my son Simon a couple of small posters from an organization called Americans Who Tell the Truth.
-
An Open Letter to John Lewis
Fellow Alabamian Margaret Renkl honors John Lewis in her recentNew York Times opinion piece. "From a sharecropper’s shack outside Troy, Ala., where as a young boy youpreached to the chickens, to the battlegrounds of the civil rights movement to the hallways of the federal government, you have been a moral compass for the nation and a voice for freedom and democracy in the world:
-
Bronx Green Machine goes international
N.Y, N.Y.Catching up with wild man StephenRitz today. So much has happened with Green Bronx Machine since his AWTT portrait was unveiled.
-
Frances Moore Lappé changed how we eat. She wants to do the same for our democracy.
David Marchese interviews Frances MooreLappé about the preservation of democracy. “I want to shift people away from thinking: Democracy, that’s for somebody else. That’s policy, wonky stuff,” said Lappé, who is 75 and whose most recent book, with Adam Eichen, is “Daring Democracy.” “It’s not.
-
The Courage of Truth Tellers
AWTT portrait subjects Chelsea Manning, Coleen Rowley and Jesselyn Radack all have December birthdays, giving us the opportunity to reflect on their courageous lives. Of the three, most people have heard of Manning but not Rowley or Radack. But all three of these heroes risked their careers by telling the truth. They are know as whistleblowers.
