A NEIGHBOR

PROJECT

A COMMUNITY PROJECT, IN CHAPTERS

A Neighbor Project, a community art project started in August 2019, involves painting live portraits of volunteers over the course of a 30-minute social sitting. The artist, Rebecca Kinkead, and her subjects chat, share stories, enjoy a coffee or glass while she paints.

The first chapter, which occurred over 2 months, included more than 250 volunteers that came to Rebecca’s porch for portrait sittings. The finished piece, installed in Rebecca’s studio in October 2019, is a continuous band of 7” x 5” portraits, hanging shoulder to shoulder, measuring 109’ in length.

In November 2019, Rebecca began to explore other demographics using the same template. She completed 'chapters' including Natick Preschool, a public preschool for special needs children in Massachusetts; the COTS Daystation in Burlington, Vermont serving homeless individuals; and a Downtown Middlebury chapter, where volunteers sat for impromptu sessions at rotating business venues each week.

Rebecca Kinkead A Neighbor Project Downtown Middlebury

Rebecca was mid-stride with the Middlebury sessions when Covid-19 hit Vermont and we went into isolation. Ten days later, on March 23, 2020, she began the FaceTime Chapter, painting 6-7 portraits per day of people all over the world. Rebecca drew a map of the world on her studio wall and began to pin each portrait according to the sitter's location. She painted over 350 portraits in 25 countries. More images are available on Facebook and Instagram.

In April, Rebecca started a parallel chapter called Essential Workers. These portraits are slightly larger (8" x 6") and are displayed on pillar-type structures in front of the map as metaphors for pillars of our global community. She invited essential workers around the world to sit for FaceTime portraits. She painted grocery store employees, truck drivers, nurses, dentists, custodians, firefighters, mental health workers side-by-side on pillars constructed in her studio.

Rebecca Kinkead A Neighbor Project Essential Workers

Rebecca Kinkead Painting Essential Workers

The original premise for the project was the idea of the 'global neighbor'. There has never been a time in recent history where this idea is more palpable and present than right now.

“A Neighbor Project is a creative collaboration with humans across the globe. It has had a profound effect on me as an artist and a person.”

– Rebecca Kinkead

For inquiries and additional photos please email studio@rebeccakinkead.com.

PRESS

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Rebecca Kinkead