Portraits of Immigrants: Unknown Faces, Untold Stories
An exhibition of the first ten oil portraits, Portraits of Immigrants: Unknown Faces, Untold Stories opened May 17, 2018 in Long Island City, at The Gallery at Diego Salazar Antique Frames, 21-25 44th Rd., LIC, NY
Betsy Ashton at work in her studio on the portrait of Porez Luxama, and completed portraits included in the show. Photo by Steven Speliotis.
Artist-journalist Betsy Ashton welcomed guests to this unique display of life-size portraits, alongside their inspiring stories that evening and again on Saturday and Sunday, May 19th & 20th during the LIC Arts Open Festival of open artists’ studios right in the neighboring blocks.
Maria Salomé, Housekeeper from Guatemala, by Betsy Ashton, 40 x 30 inches, oil on canvas
Maria Salomé’s portrait in both paint and print is one of eighteen that Betsy Ashton is painting for an exhibition designed to travel to churches and galleries around the country in an effort to reveal and celebrate the humanity of today’s immigrants.
Eight more portraits are planned for this year and next.
In October, from October 5 – November 6, 2018, completed portraits will travel to Christ Church Cathedral in Indianapolis, Indiana for an exhibition. A New York City exhibition of all eighteen will take place at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue, next to MOMA, January 19 – February 16, 2019.
Diego Salazar, Business Owner from Colombia, by Betsy Ashton, 40 x 30 inches, oil on canvas
Diego Salazar, the fifteenth child in a poor family in Bogotà, Colombia, arrived in the U.S. with nothing but the stub from his plane ticket. Starting as an apprentice in a picture frame shop, he gradually built a business employing forty skilled workers. Today he sells antique frames to museums and collectors around the world, and he donated all the frames for the exhibition.
“What started out as my interest in balancing the story of who today’s immigrants really are by painting a sample of those I know and see almost every day, has expanded to include immigrants that friends know and see as well as some found through research. It will be a mix of people of different ages from different countries and cultures who have come here for a variety of reasons, some as refugees who experienced unimaginable struggles to get here and great challenges in adjusting to their new realities. But their stories are inspiring.” ~ Betsy Ashton
Beata Szpakowicz Kombel, Nurse from Poland, by Betsy Ashton, 40 x 30 inches, oil on canvas
Porez Luxama, Teacher and Community Leader from Haiti, by Betsy Ashton, 40 x 30 inches, oil on canvas
To view more portraits and their stories, visit Betsy Ashton’s website here for her artist statement and thumbnail images at Portraits of Immigrants in the menu.
Betsy Ashton
Betsy Ashton’s portraits hang in collections throughout the U.S., U.K., and Italy. Prior to painting, she was an award-winning reporter and correspondent on radio and television stations in Washington, DC, New York City, and on CBS News.
Here’s an excellent video filmed during her artist talk at the Atlantic Gallery, New York, NY, during an exhibition of Long Island City Artists in 2017.
Betsy gives an engaging and generous presentation of how she plans and executes her portraits. Enjoy!
