As part of the Curb Center’s spring programming theme “Art and Democracy,” painter Robert Shetterly will be visiting Vanderbilt courses and giving a talk with senior lecturer Jack Crawford during the week of March 17. A student-curated selection from Shetterly’s portrait series Americans Who Tell the Truth is on display at the Curb Center until April 17.
Shetterly’s series contains more than 250 paintings of Americans who have spoken truth to power in a multitude of ways; the series features activists, poets, whistleblowers, doctors and more. The subjects are connected by their commitment to truth in the face of great adversity. As Shetterly says in his 2022 artist statement, “The question at the heart of AWTT is simple: Do we want to construct our identities from complex truths or from easy and flattering untruths? An identity shaped by complex truths is as humbling as it is freeing.
Then we can see the world as it is and shoulder the necessary responsibilities.”
His talk with Crawford, senior lecturer in history of art and architecture at Vanderbilt, will be on Wednesday, March 19, at 4:30 p.m. at the Curb Center and will be open to the public. A reception with refreshments will follow at 5:30 p.m.
Robert Shetterly in Conversation with Jack Crawford
- Wednesday, March 19
- 4:30 m.
- The Curb Center, 1801 Edgehill
Future events will feature speakers who are engaged with the civic role of art, including memoirist and filmmaker Jennifer Baum and composer Hannibal Lokumbe.
“In these unprecedented times, it is more important than ever to gather with our community and engage with art together,” Curb Center Director Leah Lowe said. “The work we will be engaging with is centered on individuals who have gone to great lengths to make their voices heard and to listen to the voices of their communities. We are thrilled to be hosting some amazing artists and thinkers who are interested in the role of art in our political system this spring and are looking forward to fostering meaningful conversations here at the Curb Center.”
If you are a Vanderbilt instructor interested in having any of these visitors speak with your courses, please email Curb Center program manager Rachel Thompson at rachel.thompson@vanderbilt.edu.
