Today Iain and I packed up the exhibit at the Worcester PopUp and stowed the portraits at home for a few weeks. There were still viewers there reading and we were told the gallery has had a steady stream of people from all over, including out-of-state to see it. I wanted to share with you some of the contributions to the participation board and some messages in the guestbook: Continue reading →

I’m thrilled to share with you that the fundraising goal for I Am More: Massachusetts has been met! In a little over a year you have made this portrait series possible by donations totaling $40,000. This will allow the 20 portraits to travel to four more regional exhibits around the state to impact as many Massachusetts residents as possible. Continue reading →

On Tuesday, after two days of naps and nothingness, I decided it was time to do some laundry. I started a pile and then remembered an email I needed to check so I opened up my laptop. There was a new email (not the one I was looking for) that said “Channel 4 News Story.” What news story was someone sending meee….ohhh noooo…. Continue reading →

I just woke up from a two hour nap so I think it’s time to share some photos from the first public unveiling of I Am More: Massachusetts at the Worcester PopUp on Saturday. Continue reading →

For the past week, 3 am arrives with a torrent of concerns. A year and a half of work will be unveiled this Saturday and the shy artist who usually just stays home has had to manage invitations, press, framing, printing, transportation, community outreach, setup, food, and music. I keep telling myself, all I need is 20 framed portraits and 20 printed essays, and we have a show. Well, currently, two portraits are still at the frame shop and the essays are still at the printers. Hence, 3 am. Continue reading →

When I look for display locations for I Am More I’m not looking for traditional fine arts spaces, I’m looking for largest number of eyeballs passing through who might be affected. It was for that reason that I approached the largest working regional theatre in Massachusetts—North Shore Music Theatre. Continue reading →

I finished the last portrait of the I Am More: Massachusetts series this morning. I hope it explains what the last two and a half years have meant to me:

Last week we had a first. We hung the original I Am More portraits on pristine virgin walls, so fresh that the painter was still working in the vicinity and maybe watching us a little warily. We were in the brand-new wing of North Shore Medical Center in Salem, MA.

In March of 2018 I walked through the snowy woods of southwestern Massachusetts with a complete stranger, Ryan. That walk, and our conversation, became the first portrait of I Am More: Massachusetts. This series of twenty portraits and essays from Gloucester, Newburyport, Wenham, Lynn, Mattapan, Reading, Burlington, Littleton, Mashpee, Westborough, Worcester, Lawrence, Feeding Hills, Amherst, Peabody and Leverett evolved from the original I Am More series of mostly local friends and acquaintances who shared with me, and you, how they were more than their mental illness, health diagnosis, physical disability and life situation. Continue reading →

For the month of August the original I Am More portraits have found a home at Acton Memorial Library, which is very special for our family since it was our library for fifteen years. And they’re not tucked away in a back corner or room, they’re right in the middle of everything: