A traveling exhibition and educational program based on the Portraits in Faith documentary project
Explore the Portraits
On this page:
For 23 years, Daniel Epstein has made portraits of 500 people in 30 countries, interviewing each one about their spiritual journey. The purpose is to show that all of creation is on a journey together and that there is no “other.”
Gina Alicea, Corvus Gallery director, first encountered Daniel Epstein’s work through the Portraits in Faith website and book. She was immediately inspired to bring this artwork to the children in The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools to enable deep engagement in the concept of “the other.” This was the birth of the Seeing the Other exhibition in 2023.
The exhibit and educational program focuses on these key questions:
- Who do you see as the “other?”
- When have you felt like the “other?”
- How well do you listen to the stories of “others?”
- What can we do to dismantle our misperceptions of “others?”
- What will it take to create more unity amongst humanity?
Video walkthrough
Bring Seeing The Other exhibit and educational program to your community
The Portraits in Faith Foundation, LLC, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is open to bring the Seeing the Other: Sacred Listening and Portraits exhibition to galleries, museums, and educational institutions. Gina Alicea and Daniel Epstein will work with your team to design and implement a combined arts and educational program that is age appropriate. For further information, please contact Daniel K. Epstein, info@portraitsinfaith.org
Previous Exhibitions
The exhibition has been shown previously at:
Previous Exhibition
Muhammad Ali Center
On June 1st 2024, Seeing the Other began a 10-month exhibition and educational program in the Muhammad Ali Center’s 3,000 square foot Ina B. Bond Gallery. Daniel Epstein and Gina Alicea worked with the community, including the Ali Center’s Muhammad Ali Center’s Counsel of Students Youth Corps in Sacred Listening exercises.
This selection of 10 portraits of Louisvillians was curated by the Muhammad Ali Center in collaboration with several partner and community organizations to reflect the diverse fabric of that city. Each individual was interviewed and photographed by Daniel K. Epstein to capture their unique story and perspective on faith.
In honoring the legacy of Muhammad Ali, we embraced his core principle of spirituality, which transcended religious boundaries and spoke to the interconnectedness of humanity. Like Ali, we believe that true spirituality fosters connections that bridge divides and challenge notions of the ‘other.’ Through this cohort of Louisvillians from Epstein’s Portraits in Faith project, we strived to embody Ali’s vision of unity and understanding with the aim of dispelling stereotypes and cultivating empathy in the community.
Ali’s belief that spirituality was a guiding force capable of transforming individuals and communities alike was reflected in each of the 10 portraits. They represented the many ways faith influences and shapes lives in Louisville.
The Louisvillians portraits
Previous exhibition
The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools
The original Seeing the Other exhibition premiered in 2023 at The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools Corvus Gallery, curated by director Gina Alicea. Daniel Epstein engaged with 18 fourth through 12th grade classes in the gallery to lead them in Sacred Listening exercises. Daniel also worked with students in the high school’s world religion classes to conduct a self-reflection and to interview others using questions featured in the Portraits in Faith project. Feedback from the students was positive. Here are some comments from the school director, teachers, and students:
I just wanted to take a moment to share my 4th-grade student’s experience with the artist Daniel Epstein. As you know, we met with him for two days for workshops. On the first day, he spoke about his work and led us through an activity where we were challenged to bypass our biases and our concept of ‘other’. My students left with so many brilliant thoughts and action steps. The second day we met, Daniel took us through the process of sacred listening. We practiced listening to each other and will use this regularly and in an upcoming project. We were all inspired by this artist!
I think it just affirmed that this is what the kids want to hear; the stories of other people, and be inspired by it, and moved by it. I would recommend this program to any other school. This is high schoolers who are 14, 15, 16, who are in this massive stage of their life journey of figuring out ‘who are they?’ Daniel is asking the same questions of everybody and I think the more the kids can hear people’s stories, the more patience and empathy they’re going to have for everybody around them. That they know that person has their story, so I should listen first before I just to any conclusions.
What stood out the most for me is really just the curiosity that I had in the interviews. I usually like to talk a lot, like, during conversations and stuff, but during the interviews, I was very, almost silent because it was just really interesting. It was a new depth of like… The people I interviewed, it was a new-like level of vulnerability that I… That they have not shared with me. I felt very privileged to have them share with me.
