Graphite Portrait Artists and Narrative Writers for Drug Addiction: Real People, Real Stories Exhibit

The Into Light Project, a national non-profit, creates public exhibitions of original portraits and individual stories of people who have died from the disease of drug addiction in locations around the country. The exhibition, entitled Drug Addiction: Real People, Real Stories, consists of 41 original graphite portraits of people who have died from drug addiction/poisoning in the state where the exhibition is held. A professionally written narrative about the lives of the individuals in the exhibition accompanies each portrait. The original, professionally framed portrait and a catalog of the narratives of each of the individuals in the exhibition is gifted to the family of the deceased at the end of the exhibition.

Artists and narrative writers are being identified in each state in the US to participate. The selection process is two phases: Phase I will identify a pool of potential artists and writers in each state who will be notified and kept on file. Phase II will occur when the Project begins work in their state and will include a written statement. Artists and writers are generally assigned up to 10 portraits or narratives per state. This is a multi-year project and it may be up to 3 years or more before the exhibition comes to a particular state.

Graphite portrait artists must submit 3-5 samples of graphite portraits with the photo reference used. Narrative writers must submit 1 sample of a narrative writing piece based on the style found on the Project's website, which can be fictitious in nature and must be no more than 500 words. Artists are paid $300 per portrait; writers are paid $125 per narrative. Applicants must be 18 years or older and reside in the US. Entry fee is $30.00 with a suggested donation of $10.00. For questions, contact [email protected] or visit https://intolightproject.org/contact/.