Face-to-Face, from the National Portrait Gallery Smithsonian

Selena, Portrait in a Minute: Guest presenter Alina Collins Maldonado, Head of Education at the Gala Hispanic Theatre in Washington, D.C., discusses a 1993 photograph of Selena by Al Rendon. Known as the "queen of Tejano music," Selena Quintanilla-Pérez brought wide recognition to this South Texas blend of Mexican and American musical styles. Her powerful voice made her the idol of fans on both sides of the border.

Wearing a bustier, tight pants, and a pouting smile, Selena set a new standard for Latin beauty, and her self-confidence on stage brought comparisons with Madonna. In 1990 she released Ven Conmigo, the first Tejano album by a female artist to go gold, and soon she had her own clothing line and national product endorsements.

She won a Grammy Award in 1993, but her life ended tragically two years later, when a former president of her fan club shot and killed her. Selena’s death at age twenty-three caused a huge outpouring of grief, and her legend then converged with the rising stardom of fellow Latina singer Jennifer Lopez, who gave a strong performance in her first leading role in Selena (1997).

Lucretia Mott, Daguerreotype Portrait: Ann Shumard, Senior Curator of Photography at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, discusses an 1851 daguerreotype portrait of Lucretia Coffin Mott.

Lucretia Mott's commitment to ending slavery and securing rights for women became the defining features of her life. A devout Quaker whose activism proved unsettling to some members of her faith, Mott assumed a highly visible role in the abolitionist movement. After joining William Lloyd Garrison at the launch of the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833, she helped to found Philadelphia's Female Anti-Slavery Society. Her concern for women's rights was a natural outgrowth of her abolitionist efforts, and in 1848. Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the convention at Seneca Falls, New York, that gave birth to the women's suffrage movement.

Artist Bo Gehring discusses his 2014 portrait of Esperanza Spalding. The video portrait, commissioned for the museum from 2013 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition winner Bo Gehring, will be exhibited in the museum in May 2015. The full video portrait can be viewed here: http://youtu.be/jKEu1Qb4OWM

"This commission of Esperanza Spalding by Bo Gehring is the fifth
digital video portrait to enter into the National Portrait Gallery's growing collection of time-based media art" said Kim Sajet, director of the museum.

To create a work, Gehring plays a piece of music of his sitter's choosing while he or she lies on a low table. A camera, suspended overhead on a track, begins at the feet and slowly moves up the body to reveal the subject's face. The motion of the computer-controlled camera is exactly synchronized to the person'sheight and the duration of his or her chosen music. The integral role of music in his portraits made Spalding, a bassist, vocalist and composer,an ideal candidate for the commissioned work.

Spalding chose Wayne Shorter's "Tarde" from the 1974 album Native Dancer to be part of her portrait.In the track, Shorter plays tenor saxophone, vocals are by Milton Nascimento, Herbie Hancock is on the electric piano, David Amaro is on guitar, David McDaniel plays bass, and Roberto Silva plays the drums. Spalding says this piece of music is important because, "Herbie, Wayne and
Milton are part of me."

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Esperanza Spalding, a portrait. By Bo Gehring, 2014.

Esperanza's chosen music "Tarde" (1974) used with the kind permission of Wayne Shorter.

The National Portrait Gallery's Warren Perry discusses an 1866 painting of William Tecumseh Sherman by George Peter Alexander Healy.

"War is war and not popularity-seeking." With these words to his Confederate opponent at Atlanta, General William T. Sherman suggested the attitude that made him both a successful commander and a bitterly hated figure in the South. He stripped war of glory and chivalry. His destructive march through Georgia and his later campaign in the Carolinas dismantled the economic base of the Confederacy and shattered the morale of its citizens. His methods anticipated twentieth-century "total war."
Influenced perhaps by Sherman's reputation for severe tactics in the field, artist G. P. A. Healy once noted that he found the Union general a forbidding portrait subject at first. But as the posing progressed, he found the general quite friendly.

"Out of Many, One" was commissioned by the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery and created by Cuban American urban artist, Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada. This giant portrait was placed temporarily on the National Mall from Oct. 4 through Oct. 31, 2014.

For the work titled "Out of Many, One," the English translation of E pluribus unum, Rodriguez-Gerada is using dozens of images of people photographed in Washington, D.C., to create a composite portrait that will be an interactive walk-through experience for visitors and also be viewable from the newly reopened Washington Monument. The work is so large it is also visible via satellite. The project covers 6 acres and falls midway between the World War II and Lincoln memorials along the south side of the Reflecting Pool.

"Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada's work demonstrates that the art of portraiture knows no boundaries," said Kim Sajet, director of the Portrait Gallery. "Who we are, how we perceive others, those we recognize and those we place in high esteem constantly shifts over time. Portraits and the people they represent can be as big as we are willing to imagine."

Rodriguez-Gerada has translated his drawing into a digital format incorporating parallel lines. Currently each line is being drawn out using TopCon high-precision satellite navigation receivers on the ground. The image is created using different colors of dirt and sand based on these lines. The GPS technology allows the artist to place the large-scale image at the location with high resolution and precision.

"This portrait, a stunning compilation of American faces, reflects the unique composition of the National Mall's 29 million annual visitors and honors the legacy of diversity that has made this park—and our country—so great," said Caroline Cunningham, president of the Trust for the National Mall.

The installation began in September 2014 and was completed by October 1, 2014. The project required approximately 2,000 tons of sand, 800 tons of soil, 10,000 wooden pegs and 8 miles of string. At the conclusion of the temporary exhibition, the high-quality sand and dirt was tilled back into the soil to help the National Park Service as they move forward with the next phase of turf restoration on the National Mall. The sand-soil composition will leave the grounds in better condition than when the project began.

"'Out of Many, One' reflects what the National Mall stands for—democracy, diversity and freedom of expression," said National Mall and Memorial Parks Superintendent Bob Vogel. "It will provide visitors with a unique national park experience and, in keeping with our mission, will improve the soil for better turf in the future. These benefits would not be possible without this unique partnership."

Rodríguez-Gerada, born in Cuba and raised in New Jersey since the age of 3, has worked in this style of urban portraiture since 2002. His art aims to create a dialogue about the concept of identity, and it questions the role models who are chosen to represent people in the public sphere. These works have no negative environmental impact and are created to poetically blend back into the land.

All of Rodríguez-Gerada's large-scale "facescapes" can be seen from space and are part of his TERRESTRIAL series; this is the first placed in the United States. Others have been created in Barcelona, Spain; Amsterdam; and Belfast, Northern Ireland.

"Out of Many, One" on the Nat'l Mall, Oct 4 - 31, 2014: Giant landscape portrait by artist Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada.
“Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada's work demonstrates that the art of portraiture knows no boundaries," said Kim Sajet, director of the Portrait Gallery. "Who we are, how we perceive others, those we recognize and those we place in high esteem constantly shifts over time. Portraits and the people they represent can be as big as we are willing to imagine."

Rodriguez-Gerada has translated his drawing into a digital format incorporating parallel lines. Currently each line is being drawn out using TopCon high-precision satellite navigation receivers on the ground. The image is created using different colors of dirt and sand based on these lines. The GPS technology allows the artist to place the large-scale image at the location with high resolution and precision.

"This portrait, a stunning compilation of American faces, reflects the unique composition of the National Mall’s 29 million annual visitors and honors the legacy of diversity that has made this park—and our country—so great," said Caroline Cunningham, president of the Trust for the National Mall.

The installation began in September and will be completed by the end of the month. The project will require approximately 2,000 tons of sand, 800 tons of soil, 10,000 wooden pegs and 8 miles of string. At the conclusion of the temporary exhibition, the high-quality sand and dirt will be tilled back into the soil to help the National Park Service as they move forward with the next phase of turf restoration on the National Mall. The sand-soil composition will leave the grounds in better condition than when the project began.

"'Out of Many, One' reflects what the National Mall stands for—democracy, diversity and freedom of expression," said National Mall and Memorial Parks Superintendent Bob Vogel. "It will provide visitors with a unique national park experience and, in keeping with our mission, will improve the soil for better turf in the future. These benefits would not be possible without this unique partnership."
Rodriguez-Gerada, born in Cuba and raised in New Jersey since the age of 3, has worked in this style of urban portraiture since 2002. His art aims to create a dialogue about the concept of identity, and it questions the role models who are chosen to represent people in the public sphere. These works have no negative environmental impact and are created to poetically blend back into the land.

All of Rodriguez-Gerada’s large-scale "facescapes" can be seen from space and are part of his TERRESTRIAL series; this is the first placed in the United States. Others have been created in Barcelona, Spain; Amsterdam; and Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The work has come together in large part due to a group of in-kind donors, including Clark Construction, Chaney Enterprises, The Bulldog Group, Alvin Hatcher Group and Topcon, with consulting assistance from Terry Stancill.

The National Portrait Gallery presents "Out of Many, One," by Rodríguez-Gerada in partnership with the Trust for the National Mall and the National Park Service.