March 5, 2026
6pm
The Clinton Essex Franklin Library System (CEFLS) is pleased toannounce a new partnership with John Brown Lives! to bring a travelingexhibit of Americans Who Tell the Truth portraits to memberlibraries and community organizations across the region.
The exhibit will officially launch at the Saranac Lake FreeLibrary on March 5 at 6:00 p.m. The event will include theunveiling of the portraits and a live Zoom Q&A with artist RobertShetterly. Community members, educators, and local organizations are invited toattend. Those unable to join the launch event areencouraged to watch for future opportunities to view the exhibit as it travelsto libraries and partner sites.
The exhibit features laminated reproductions of selected portraitsfrom Shetterly’s series, which has been traveling the country since 2003.The portraits celebrate individuals whose courage, activism, and imaginationhave shaped American democracy. Over the past two decades, Shetterly has collaborated with many of the people he haspainted, deepening the project’s connection to contemporary social andhumanitarian movements.
The CEFLS traveling exhibit includes an interactive component:each portrait features a QR code linking to a short biography of the subject,inviting viewers to reflect on their life stories and the issues theychampioned. In partnership with OurStoryBridge, additional QR codes will soonconnect viewers to audio interviews with some of theportrait subjects, with more interviews being added over time.
CEFLS is proud to collaborate with John Brown Lives!, Northern NewYork Library Network, and OurStoryBridge to make this project possible. The organization is also grateful to the Saranac LakeFree Library for hosting the launch event.
