Traveling exhibit showcases religious diversity at OAC

There’s a story behind each face in David Salerno’s portrait series, but he prefers to let the paintings speak for themselves.

“You can guess his religion if you like, but you’ll probably get it wrong,” said Salerno, gesturing at a painting.

The Owatonna Arts Center is the latest venue to host “Together: A Portrait of Americans,” a series of 40 paintings Salerno created to showcase the religious diversity of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Inspiration for the series struck in 2020, as Salerno saw a worrisome rise in distrust and intolerance in American society.

“I was really getting troubled with what was happening in the country, people not communicating with each other. I thought our relationships were deteriorating — more anger, more hatred, much less compromising, less tolerance,” he said.

Recruiting participants proved to be more difficult than Salerno anticipated. Wanting to get a wide range of subjects, Salerno began by contacting religious leaders in Chattanooga. He found most of them reluctant to get involved, though he suspects they were simply being protective of their congregations. Word of mouth proved the most effective tool for recruitment. His wife Leah’s pastor was eager to help, leading to a chain of referrals from one religious leader to another. Some of his subjects are these connectors, people who helped him recruit others.

The participants represent 10 distinct religious groups, including various Christian denominations, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and others. Six were nonreligious.

While some people may have shied away from the series’ purpose, scheduling was a barrier for others. Salerno met with each subject, starting the portraits with a charcoal sketch and monochrome painting before taking a photo for further reference. That process took three hours — a fraction of the 20-40 hours Salerno spent on each portrait, but enough to deter some.

Leah recalled a procession of strangers passing through their home, which she considers “40 new friends.” Salerno spent those hours chatting with his subjects as he worked, feeling he knew each one by the end of the session.

“We all have the same hopes and dreams and fears. We all love this country. That was one thing that came across very clearly,” said Salerno.

Rather than just doing him a favor, Salerno said participants “bought in” to his vision for the series.

Recruiting and painting 40 subjects took two years. Seeking venues for the series, he hit more roadblocks. Salerno said a few galleries showed interest initially, only to pull back out of concern the show could be perceived as too political.

The exhibition debuted in Chattanooga last year, followed by several other venues in Tennessee and Georgia. Salerno applied to galleries throughout the country. He applied to the OAC in part because he was interested in returning to Minnesota. Prior to living in Chattanooga, he was a faculty member at the University of Minnesota Department of Medicine for 13 years.

After its stint in Owatonna, the show will move on to galleries in Pennsylvania and Alabama.

Salerno hopes to find a gallery to serve as a permanent home for the whole series once he’s done touring it.

“I can’t break it up,” he said.

While Salerno chose to hone in on religion, he also captured a diversity of age, race and employment. His participants include business owners, students and healthcare workers, ranging from 18 to 91. Although he represented a wide range of skin tones, Salerno noted they were all primarily composed of the same five pigments, just in slightly different amounts.

While his concerns are very contemporary, Salerno’s technique drew on historical influences, notably the neoclassical style of painting popular in 18th and 19th century France. Salerno said he takes a careful, methodical approach to painting, likening it to the way he practiced medicine.

Seeing the paintings in person for the first time, OAC Artistic Director Silvan Durben remarked, “They’re wonderful.”

He praised both the technical qualities of the work and the message behind them, noting that was what motivated him to host the show in the first place.

“I loved the title, because it basically tells us in our country we are a melting pot, and if we really take the time to chat and know one another, we’ll realize that we have a lot more in common than we realize. We all are wonderful human beings wanting to live a good life,” said Durben.

“Together: A Portrait of Americans” will be on view at the OAC until May 26.