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Rose Center is pleased to host an art exhibition titled, Together: A Portrait of Americans, by Chattanooga artist David Michael Salerno. The public is invited to view these paintings at Rose Center September 8 – October 20.

A free opening reception will be held Friday, September 8, from 6-8 p.m.

The exhibit features forty portrait paintings of individuals in his community, a project that took two years. Salerno began painting these portraits as a personal response to the current discord in our country that is threatening our democracy.

Salerno says, “The purpose of these oil paintings is to illustrate our shared humanity and to encourage more civil and constructive interaction. To obtain a diverse group of volunteers to sit for the portraits, I recruited from ten different religions in Chattanooga; not to compare religions, but to show our similarities as humans. Participants volunteered to be a part of this project because they are also concerned with current discord in our country and want to demonstrate that our similarities override our differences.”

David Michael Salerno is an oil painter trained in classical realism. He integrates his training with more contemporary techniques while preserving his commitment to the accuracy and quality of classical realism. He paints a wide range of subjects in landscape, still-life, figurative and portrait painting. David has painted throughout his life, even during his years as a practicing cardiologist. He holds memberships in the American Artists Professional League, the International Guild of Realism, the Portrait Society of America, and is a Signature Artist in the National Oil and Acrylic Painters’ Society.

The exhibit at Rose Center is the first showing of this group of portraits outside the Chattanooga area. In November, the exhibition will travel to Georgia and then to other venues throughout the United States.