Here’s something new and refreshing–we drove to downtown Boston in a UHaul van on Memorial Day weekend to take down the exhibit at Tufts, and put it up at Burlington Mall, and it went…well! No traffic jams, no security hang-ups, no extreme weather, just took it down and put it up, and done!

Yesterday Iain and I started the day at a shopping mall surrounded by mall walkers and employees rolling in to start their day, and ended in a medical health sciences library among graduate and medical students studying or headed to the gym on a rainy Sunday. It was time to leave South Shore Plaza and install at Tufts University Health Science Campus in Boston’s Chinatown.

Things got a bit ugly at 9pm last night in the UHaul parking lot after Iain and I had traveled to The Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester, then home to Gloucester to reload, and then through Boston traffic to South Shore Plaza in Braintree to set up a new exhibit. We were returning the van rental and had to throw all of our moving stuff into our car…but it wouldn’t fit. We had to leave room to retrieve the dog, and the trolley, moving blankets, straps, and boxes WOULD NOT FIT. We were cold and exhausted, and while I contemplated having a good cry, Iain calmly strapped the trolley handles to his bike rack and shut the back. “This is why I married you,” I said. Now that we’ve survived our 50th exhibit moving day, let’s see how far we’ve come…

Recently I recorded an interview with my first I Am More couple, who agreed to talk about their experiences with a challenging new health diagnosis. We had a fun kitchen table discussion, including the history of their relationship. I returned home and transcribed the conversation, sending them a copy to approve. They replied that it all looked good, but pointed out that in a couple of places, instead of writing the names as Rose and Ken, I must have slipped, and wrote Mom and Dad. So, yes, this is my family’s journey:

It was another 13-hour day of moving, but The Mall of New Hampshire has a brand-new exhibit this morning in front of Dick’s Sporting Goods, our third exhibit in New Hampshire, 49th overall. Someone recently compared me to a gypsy traveling from town to town.

This week we celebrated our third exhibit at Northshore Mall, 6 new portraits, and our new Spanish translations, along with the work of NAMI Greater North Shore/Cape Ann and The NAN Project. We were joined by Northshore Mall General Manager Mark Whiting and Marketing Director Lauren Dalis, and a lovely assortment of portrait subjects and their families.

Last Friday we loaded up the State House exhibit, waved good-bye to our new Ranger friend, John, in the loading dock, and the next morning arrived at our old faithful location, Northshore Mall. This is our third time at our regional mall, and we’re back in front of Macy’s for a month, with new portraits and our new Spanish translations!

It was over three years in the making, but this week we were finally able to share I Am More: Massachusetts at the Massachusetts State House for the fifth and final regional exhibit of the state series of portraits and essays, thanks to the legislative sponsorship of Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr. On Tuesday we were joined by legislators, portrait subjects and guests to celebrate the project. Below are some photos from the day and the speech by Senator Tarr for those who couldn’t be there. We’re grateful for the opportunity and the honor.

In the summer of 2021, Reverend Cindy was exploring Rocky Neck in Gloucester when she saw a sign for an art show with an arrow. She followed the dirt road which brought her to the Paint Factory, and then followed the arrows upstairs. When she told me this story later she described her astonishment at everything she was encountering…”The view…and then the buildings…and then Ocean Alliance and the whales and the drones…and then I Am More!!” I received an email from her asking if we could bring the exhibit to the community of her church in Boxborough, MA, which we did in September, and during her remarks at the reception she astonished me with her story:

I first met Karen when she agreed to host an I Am More exhibit in the busy lobby of North Shore Music Theatre, where she is the General Manager. She is open and easy with her generosity, and warmly welcomed us. I thought that would be the end of our connection, but as the pandemic unfolded in 2020, and I watched her from afar be forever changed by the events, I did the only thing an artist can do, and later handed her a surprise drawing to help her heal. Eventually it dawned on me that Karen was an obvious I Am More portrait subject, and she kindly agreed to participate.