The Owensboro Portrait Project to Promote Connection & Community

This past fall, when the whole town showed up for the free Illuminate light experience, Chad and I walked around with smiles on our faces just watching everyone. Not in a creepy way, I promise! We couldn't help but be impressed by the number of people there, having fun, making memories, and enjoying our beautiful riverfront. Wasn't it awesome?!

Strangers were connecting with each other and becoming neighbors. People were trying new foods from different cultures at the food trucks. I saw some folks wiping away tears at the candlelight symphony performance and moved to dance with the glowing teams from Musik Studios. Learning from each other and feeling a sense of belonging. I know I sure felt it.

The desire for more connection was a common theme over the past several months as the Greater Owensboro Leadership Institute collaborated with the Harwood Institute. Stacy Edds-Ellis, Ph.D, executive director of G.O.L.I., shared, "After learning about community needs and aspirations, we formed four resident-led teams focused on Arts, Youth, Housing/Homelessness, and Health."

While we can't host Illuminate permanently, we can find other ways to come together. Especially through the arts. That is how The Owensboro Portrait Project came to be. "A picture is worth a thousand words," so this is an amazing way to tell local stories about local people.

Photographer, community leader, and organizer, Maria Clark said, "This project is a way to share individual stories of people in Owensboro/Daviess County to foster greater connection and strengthen the fabric of our community."

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The Owensboro Portrait Project hopes to feature a new individual every 2-3 weeks on social media. They also want to share hard-copy portraits at popular venues around town. Our friend Hunter (champion of We've Got Talent, Too 2025, baby!) was the first to be photographed. Here is his handsome picture!

And part of his story. He is so sweet, so smart, so talented. Through the Owensboro Portrait Project, you can be lucky enough to "meet" him and other amazing people who live here. If you see Hunter out and about, be sure to say "hi!" He may even sing you some Michael Bublé!

Right now, the photography team consists of Maria Clark, Drew Hardesty, and Blakeley Wethington. The storytellers are Dan Heckel and Emmy Woosley. This work is all volunteer-led, so if you are interested in helping as a photographer or storyteller, you can reach out to portraitproject@owensboro.com.

You can also email your nominations for people to feature in the portraits. If you know someone who the community needs to know about, feel free to nominate them. "Our focus is on showing the depth and stories of people who live in our community. We hope that sharing will foster connection and to remind us that we have more in common than not."

Amen, Stacy! Thanks to everyone involved in this project and the other projects to come from the Harwood/Leadership partnership. Follow along on social media for more.