Winston-Salem Portrait Project
A community engagement and public art project created to build bridges and relationships across the city, commissioned by the City of Winston-Salem and the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Public Art Commission. In 2019, more than 100 Winston-Salem residents came together to nominate neighbors, share community stories, and learn to make meaningful portraits of one another.
The project generated three public exhibition components: A downtown sculpture featuring the faces and stories of residents nominated by their neighbors to represent the city; a pop-up participant exhibition featuring the beautiful and meaningful portraits that participants took of one another; and eight murals in each city ward, featuring the faces and stories of W-S residents.
As co-lead artist (2018-2021), I worked with my collaborator Kisha Bari, our team and the community to:
Convene a host committee of 30+ community members to shape the project.
Lead 4x workshops for nominated portrait participants to get to know each other and create portraits of
one another.
Hire and collaborate with local fabricator to build 1 sculpture and 8 metal murals.
Coordinate install across 9 locations (city and privately-owned).
Managed budget over 4 years to cover all project expenses.
Hire and manage local team.
photos © Allison Lee Isley and Te’Drenna L. Coleman
videos © Taresh Moore and Christine Rucker