The words “E pluribus unum” - Latin for “Out of many, one” - appear on the Great Seal of the United States and most of our currency.
They refer to this nation’s independence, just celebrated - and they are the animating spirit of an exhibition that opens Friday at Townsend Atelier here in Chattanooga, titled “Together: A Portrait of Americans.”
Artist David Michael Salerno spent two years painting oil portraits of 40 people from diverse religious backgrounds in the Chattanooga area for the “Together” exhibition.
I spoke with him, his wife Leah - also an oil painter - and Peggy Townsend of Townsend Atelier.