I am returning to Amherst (just outside of Buffalo), NY this Saturday, 18 February 2005, for one more presentation of the work at the Center for Inquiry Transnational, founded by Paul Kurtz. This is a repeat of a presentation I held in October 2005 at the Center; the painting has been on display there since. Starting at 7PM, this new event will include a short lecture and a Q&A session with those in attendance (there is no charge; signed posters will be available for sale).

After the event I will break down the painting (which tends to draw a crowd as well, who wonder how I get an 8x14 foot painting through doors and into cars), and drive the next day (2/19/06) to Detroit, where I will set up the painting and attend an informal meet & greet from 2-4PM at the Birmingham Unitarian Church, 38651 Woodward Ave, Bloomfield HIlls, MI 38651 (phone 248-647-2380; Google page and map). The painting will be on display at the church through March 2nd, when I return that evening to host a 7PM panel discussion on "American Fundamentalism and the Threat to Democracy and Freedom or Faith." The events are co-sponsored by the Michigan Coalition for Human Rights, and the panel members will include Russ Bellant, journalist and Union activist who's book about the Coors family was an important resource while researching the persons included in the painting. Russ took part in a similar panel I hosted at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor last year, and has some informative insights on the Coors clan, Tom Monaghan and their financial backing of far-right political activities and organizations (many under the guise of "religious institutions"). After the March 2nd event I will be taking the painting to Washington, DC; in April it goes to Minnesota (and beyond!).

Perhaps some Talk2Action readers would like to attend these events, or help to organize future events (including a short or long-term display of the painting in a public place)? Please come out, say hello and let us know if you heard about the event from this site!

Los Angeles-based artist Joel Pelletier is the creator of "American Fundamentalists (Christ's Entry into Washington in 2008)", an 8x14 foot painting depicting American religious, political and economic fundamentalists. He has been touring the US with the painting talking about "American Fundamentalism and the Threat to Democracy and Freedom of Faith" (more at americanfundamentalists.com).