Poet Richard Blanco, left, of Bethel gestures Aug. 8 after Robert Shetterly, right, unveils his painting of Blanco at The Gem theater in Bethel. Submitted photo
BETHEL — Artist Robert Shetterly, creator of the series Americans Who Tell the Truth, unveiled his portrait of Inaugural Poet and Poet Laureate Richard Blanco of Bethel to much applause at The Gem Theater Aug. 8.
Quoting playwright Arthur Miller, Shetterly said, “I think the job of the artist is to remind people what they have chosen to forget … your work does that.”
Blanco responded, “And Bethel does that, too. I’m in love with this place for that very reason. Tonight’s a perfect example of that, where we can communicate, we can share ideas. I think this is what America really is about. We can disagree … .
“I’m running for office now,” he said to laughter.
One of four poems Blanco read before the unveiling was, “Easy Lynching on Herndon Avenue.” He said the poem was inspired by a photograph of the site where the last recorded lynching in the U.S. occurred in 1981, in Mobile, Alabama. Blanco’s poem begins:
Blanco contrasts the peaceful image in the present day photograph with the horrific violence that transpired there, highlighting the way history can be obscured or sanitized.
Holding up Blanco and his poem as an example of the subjects he chooses to paint, Shetterly said, “Without courage, there are no other virtues.”
Selected by President Barack Obama as the fifth presidential inaugural poet in U.S. history, Blanco was the youngest, the first Latinx, immigrant and gay person to serve in that role.
In 2023, Blanco was awarded the National Humanities Medal from the National Endowment for the Humanities by President Joseph Biden .
He has authored the memoirs “For All of Us, One Today: An Inaugural Poet’s Journey,” and “The Prince of Los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood.” Blanco has received numerous awards for his work.
Shetterly said his project began during the run-up to the Iraq War when, “a lot of us knew or should have known and should have been told that our government was lying to us.
“When I painted the first portraits, they were all the same people you all would paint,” he said. “Frederick Douglas, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Mother Jones, Jane Addams, Susan B. Anthony, John Muir — all these 19th century great figures.”
He said he decided to keep going. Blanco’s portrait is one of over 270 portraits in the project that have been exhibited across the United States in universities, churches, schools, community centers, museums, galleries and government offices. The paintings are used as learning opportunities that “encourage everyone to become engaged citizens as they address issues of social, environmental and economic justice,” Blanco said.
On each subject’s portrait is a selected quote.
Shetterly used a dental instrument to scratch Blanco’s words onto his portrait, “Like thirst, like hunger, we ache with the need/to save ourselves and our country from itself.”
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