Unsung Heroes of Uptown:

This project is dedicated to everyone I have ever had the privilege of talking to on the street, on the bus, the train, in the supermarket line…

“Unsung Heroes Of Uptown: Art of People ON the Streets IN the Streets,” intends to encourage everyone to savor the same pleasure by connecting to our fellow voyagers on this trip through life. Taking the time, even for a moment, to meet each other, expands not only our individual worlds, but deepens our sense of compassion and connection to the world we all share. It makes us better people and reminds us—we are not alone—that  we are all remarkable, even inspiring. Legendary Studs Terkel believed this and so do I. And we have never needed empathy more than today…

Not since creating the award-winning television documentary, “Apple Pie & Chopsticks: Sketches of a Woman in Modern China,” which aired worldwide, this capsule collection exhibition of my ongoing series, “Unsung Heroes,” is one of the most revelatory experiences of my life. Nothing can be more captivating and yet more elusive—-what is a portrait and how to capture the “essence” of a person? Who are we? Are we who we think we are? Or how others see us? Or combination of both? Bringing the art gallery to the street is the perfect venue. It was also fun to have the opportunity to play with the concept of advertising.