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| Sojourner Truth - Artist Tom Block |
Contact: Wendy Milette FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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ARTIST TOM BLOCK WINS MY HERO'S 2015 SHETTERLY ART AWARD
SANTA MONICA, CA - 12/14/15 - Tom Block, artist and human rights activist, is the winner of The MY HERO Project's 2015 Robert Shetterly Art Award. Block earned the award for his soulful portrait of Sojourner Truth, the former slave who became a powerful voice for the rights of women and blacks in the post-abolition United States.
The award was bestowed at MY HERO's 20th Anniversary Celebration in Santa Monica, an event that brought together filmmakers, musicians, artists and storytellers to honor heroes working to create positive change in the world. The event took place recently at the Herb Alpert Educational Village in Santa Monica.
Block is the founder of the Human Rights Painting Project in conjunction with Amnesty International and the newly formed Institute for Prophetic Activist Art in New York. His highly expressionist portraits of human rights activists include Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, Sojourner Truth and lesser known heroes who are incarcerated around the world for their acts in the name of social justice.
Both Robert Shetterly and Tom Block have used their talent, their imagination and their sense of outrage to raise consciousness and bring about positive social change. These artists believe in the universality of art and its power to illuminate heroes working to make the world a better place. Shetterly, founder of Americans Who Tell The Truth.org, has donated funds for this new award in order to celebrate an artist who has created a hero portrait that truly conveys the emotional power of hero art.
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| Ron Kovic with portrait by Robert Shetterly |
At the Celebration, Shetterly unveiled his portrait of Ron Kovic, a former U.S. Marine who was paralyzed in the Vietnam war and has spent the past 40 years working for peace. Kovic's story is chronicled in his autobiography Born on the Fourth of July, a book that later became a film by director Oliver Stone.
The MY HERO Project is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to sharing stories, short films, art and music that honor heroes from all walks of life. Over the last 20 years, MY HERO has become the world’s leading host of uplifting and inspiring hero stories. MY HERO's web site (www.myhero.com) is a family friendly, award-winning online resource used by millions of teachers, parents and students in more than 194 countries.
Page created on 12/15/2015 4:21:06 PM
Last edited 9/25/2018 6:51:20 PM
