We Are All Still Here – The Faces of Jim Thorpe, a project to build community ties through portrait and story-telling arts, is coming to The Dimmick Memorial Library in Jim Thorpe on Saturday, April 13th. We invite all Jim Thorpe residents to come out to the library, share your stories, and have your portrait taken!
The goal of We Are All Still Here is to promote community among the residents of small towns across America. Using portrait photography, portrait painting and recordings of personal narratives, we create a living history of the residents of the town.
Each participant spends approximately 30 minutes sharing their stories and being photographed. Based on this, we go back to our studio and create an individual painting and/or photographic portrait and your story is condensed into a written narrative summary. (We will create as many painted portraits as possible!) The photographs, paintings and stories will be shown in a special exhibit – The Faces of Jim Thorpe – for the town’s residents. We Are All Still Here hopes to ultimately mount a larger traveling show that includes the living histories of residents across multiple participating towns.
The project was conceived by the painter-photographer team of Kathy Vaillancourt and Mark Abbott.
Vaillancourt is a New York City-based portrait artist who has trained at the Art Student’s League, New York Academy of Art and the Grand Central Atelier in New York City. She exhibits her work throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. When not working, she loves to take road trips throughout the country with her dog, Will.
Abbott is a professional photographer who lives in Durham, North Carolina. He works sporting events and shoots commercial and portrait photography in the Southeast. His work has been featured in Sports Illustrated. Along with his love of black and white and travel photography, he enjoys attending fiddlers’ conventions, hiking, camping and cooking.
“There is so much going on in the towns of this country and a rich history among our citizens. I have always loved to explore these people and places, and this project offers a means to combine that interest with my painting.” says Vaillancourt. “It is my hope that this project will let us all get to know each other better – both within the community and across towns. Besides that, it is fun!”
The event takes place from 9 AM until 4 PM on Saturday April 13, 2019. If you are interested please email kavaillan@yahoo.com to schedule your session.
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