Artist, Writer and Activist Robert Shetterly to Participate in Week-long Visit to Campus

Release date: January 24, 2013

FRANKLIN, Ind. Robert Shetterly, artist, writer, activist and originator of the "Americans Who Tell the Truth" portrait series will be at Franklin College for an intensive week-long visit conducting classes and lectures.

He also will present two public lectures on differing topics beginning at 7 p.m. in the Napolitan Student Center in the Branigin Room. The first will be on Tuesday, Feb. 19 where he will discuss why he thinks the individuals in his portraits are important models for society today. The second lecture on Thursday, Feb. 21, he will facilitate dialogue about what constitutes a democracy.

Shetterly is a 1969 Harvard College graduate with a degree in English literature. In college, he took courses in drawing which changed the direction of his creative life from the written word to imagery. His paintings and prints are in collections all over the U.S. and Europe. The portraits in the "Americans Who Tell the Truth" series have given Shetterly the opportunity to speak about the necessity of dissent in a democracy, the obligations of citizenship, sustainability, U.S. history and how democracy cannot function if politicians don't tell the truth, if the media don't report it and if the people don't demand it.

Both lectures are free and open to the public.

Each year, the college hosts the lecture series based on one of its five core values - respect, honesty, responsibility, faith and lifelong pursuit of learning. This year's focus is on responsibility, defined as the capacity to accept the outcomes of one's actions and the strength to choose those actions which will positively affect one's life and the lives of others in the community.

Contact the Franklin College Office of Marketing and Communications for more information at (317) 738-8185.

Founded in 1834, Franklin College is a residential four-year undergraduate liberal arts institution with a scenic, wooded campus located 20 minutes south of downtown Indianapolis. The college prepares men and women for challenging careers and fulfilling lives through the liberal arts, offering its approximately 1,000 students 28 majors, 36 minors and eight pre-professional programs. In 1842, the college began admitting women, becoming the first coeducational institution in Indiana and the seventh in the nation. Franklin College maintains a voluntary association with the American Baptist Churches USA. For more information, visit www.franklincollege.edu.