A free workshop led by artist Jan Arabas exploring the question: What makes a portrait?

We’ll begin with a 20-minute guided tour of the immersive installations at Open House of History, which explore connections among lives across time. Then we’ll gather for an open discussion about portraits: what they are, how they connect us, and why they matter.

Why do we take photographs of ourselves, our friends, and our families? Why do we keep portraits in photo albums, display them in frames, or hang them in museums?

And what actually makes something a portrait? Is the immersive installation at OHOH a portrait of a place, a time, or a community? How do writers create portraits? Actors? Musicians? Can any act of sympathy—of trying to see and understand another person—become a kind of portrait?

Bring your curiosity, your questions, and your opinions. No special knowledge or experience is needed.

Free and open to all.