Portrait of Frederick Douglass

About The Portraits Project

Imo Nse Imeh has painted a portrait of the 19th Century hero Frederick Douglass. The portrait was commissioned by Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts as part of an initiative called the Portraits Project, an effort to address the stories of Black American luminaries of the 19th Century and their connections to the town of Worcester. This painting, along with two other stunning portraits of Sojourner Truth, painted by Manu Saluja and William and Martha Brown, painted by Brenda Zlamany is now installed in the historic Mechanics Hall Portrait Gallery. These three new works are the first portraits to be commissioned by Mechanics Hall in over a century, and they are the first representations of Black leaders in the institution.