"Thurman by Firelight" by Martin Dunn – Oil on Panel
Image 22" x 36" – Framed 28" x 42"
"Thurman By Firelight" is currently displayed at BayFront Park on City Island in downtown Saroasta.
This is a spectaculare exhibit of 50 Artworks enlarged to large panels.
Only 50 Artworks were curated from an International group of 127 countries with 16,000 submissions for the 2021 Sarasota Exhibit.
'Community cannot for long feed on itself; it can only flourish with the coming of others from beyond, their unknown and undiscovered brothers.'
'...I cannot be what it is that I must be if between you and me, between you and God, there is no community.'
'Community is rooted in the quality of deliberate intention.' --Howard Thurman
Over fifty years ago the spiritual leader of the American civil rights movement was telling us what it will take to get out of this mess.
He told us to get out there and start loving individuals, preferably individuals far different from ourselves.
Somebody has to take the step and go to where the others are, sit down, and offer to listen.
In this painting we see a group of four very different-looking individuals engaged in conversation with a background of civil unrest.
What we don't know is who came to who. All of the models for this painting either are or were members of the homeless community in my home town of Sarasota, FL.
Thurman By Firelight has been accepted into four national and international art exhibitions: "Hindsight", a digital exhibition hosted by Gallery 114, Portland,
OR, running the month of January, 2021; The Bakhita Prize for the Visual Arts, hosted by Dappled Things, a Catholic arts quarterly;
'Race in America', hosted by Drury University, Springfield, MO (ended November 26, 2020);
and Embracing Our Differences, a non-profit organization with the vision of
"A world that embraces diversity, respects differences and actively rejects hatred and prejudice."
Over 388,000 people viewed the 2020 exhibit.
