On Saturday November 10th,, artists from across the United States who had artwork in the permanent collection at the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian, were honored at a reception called Face Forward to celebrate contemporary artists and the power of portraiture.

I am fortunate to be one of those artists. It was a wonderful event with music, food, and a chance to sit for a sketch done by a team of quick sketch portrait artists. We were also able to see the newest exhibition called Eye to I:Self Portraits from 1900 to Today which was curated by Brandon Fortune, chief curator at the Portrait Gallery.