Robert Shetterly


Robert Shetterly is an American artist. Shetterly is best known for his portrait series, "Americans Who Tell the Truth," a project begun in response to U.S. government actions following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Towers in New York City. Shetterly undertook the project as a way to deal with his own grief and anger by painting Americans who inspired him. He initially intended to paint only 50 portraits, but by 2013 more than 180 portraits were included in the series. Portions of the series tour widely across the United States, being shown in schools, museums, libraries, galleries and other public spaces.
A book titled "Americans Who Tell the Truth," written and illustrated by Shetterly, was published by Dutton Juvenile Press in 2005 and reviewed favorably by Kirkus. It won the International Reading Association's Intermediate—Nonfiction award for 2006, and the nonprofit Children's Book Council listed it among the "2006 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People," saying it is "sure to inspire debate and further research.". The book also met with criticism. Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz reviewed it for FrontPage Magazine in 2005, calling it a “revolting” and “seductive picture book” whose “propaganda” was “a form of literary child abuse.” Shetterly responded to Dershowitz's attack in the same publication.
Shetterly lives with his partner, Gail Page, in Brooksville, Maine.