Wealth, class, race, and gender determined who could have a portrait made in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The National Portrait Gallery is pulling back the curtain of time to acknowledge those who are missing from the museum's historical collections. Each artist selected for the inaugural "Identify" series critiques American portraiture and institutional history by making visible a body or bodies that historically have been forgotten, marginalized, or oppressed. Bear witness with us in this experimental initiative.

The artists selected for "Identify" draw on autobiography and archival resources to consider their personal stories through the lens of historical exclusion. Their inspiration is rooted in voices lost in the museum's home—the National Historic Landmark building that began as the Patent Office—or in their metaphorical ancestors who are missing from the Portrait Gallery's collections.

Dorothy Moss, Associate Curator of Painting and Sculpture

Support for the IDENTIFY performance art series has been provided by the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center; an anonymous donor; the Philip and Elizabeth Ryan Fund; the Director's Visionary Fund; the Marc Pachter Fund for Commissioning; Carol and John Boochever; The Skanby + Gould Foundation; and other individual contributors.

Wilmer Wilson IV ------------------------------------- Saturday, October 10; 4:00 p.m.

Martha McDonald ------------------------------------- Saturday, October 17; 1:00 p.m.

James Luna --------------------------------------------- Saturday, January 16, 4:00 p.m.

J.J. McCracken------------------------------------------Thursday, February 4, 5:30 p.m.

Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons------------------------Saturday, May 14, 4:00 p.m.