The Inspiration Project
In early 2021, I was seeking some light in the midst of a very tumultuous time. The Covid pandemic was in full swing, there was political upheaval and so much negativity and fear. In hopes to focus on the good among us, I created the Inspiration Project, a daily art project where I created 100 portraits of inspirational people in 100* days.
*100-ish. Probably closer to 105, but who could really tell?

Amanda Gorman
American Poet and Activist

Althea Gibson
One of the First Black Athletes to Cross the Color Line of International Tennis

Albert Einstein
Theoretical Physicist

Agnes Chow
Hong Kong Politician and Social Activist

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
United States Representative

Angela Davis
American Political Activist

Amelia Earhart
Pioneering Female Aviator

Amanda Southworth
iOS Developer, Designer, and Mental Health and Human Rights Activist

Amanda Nguyễn
Social Entrepreneur and Civil Rights Activist

Anita Cameron
Disability Rights Advocate and Activist

Vanessa Nakate
Ugandan Climate Activist

Zainab Salbi
Iraqi-American Women's Rights Activist and Writer

Stacey Abrams
American Politician, Lawyer, and Voting Rights Activist

Swati Mohan
Indian-American Aerospace Engineer and a Lead on NASA Mars 202 Mission

Tarana Burke
American Activist and #metoo Founder

bell hooks
Renowned Author, Poet, Cultural Critic, Feminist and Social Activist

Bayard Rustin
African-American Social Movements Leader in Civil Rights, Socialism, Nonviolence and Gay Rights

Ayanna Pressley
United States Representative

Ava DuVernay
Award Winning and Socially Conscious American Filmmaker

Audre Lorde
American Writer, Professor, Intersectional Feminist, and Civil Rights Activist

Ruby Bridges
American Civil Rights Activist

Serena Williams
Former American Professional Tennis Players

Roxane Gay
American Writer, Professor, Editor, and Social Commentator

Ruth Bader Ginsburg
American Lawyer and Supreme Court Justice, Feminist Icon

Sarah Thomas
First Full Time Woman to Officiate in the NFL

Cesar Chavez
American Labor Leader and Civil Rights Activist

Boyan Slat
Inventor and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup

Founders of Black Lives Matter
Decentralized Political and Social Movement
Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi

Beyonce
American Singer Recognized for Boundary-Pushing Artistry

Bessie Coleman
Pioneering American Civil Aviator

Paola Velez
Pastry Chef and Social Justice Activist

Pauli Murray
American Civil Rights Activist and Advocate, and Legal Scholar

Phyllis 'Pippa' Latour
WWII Secret Agent that Knitted Paraphernalia to Conceal Secret Codes to the Allies

Rashida Tlaib
United States Representative

Rosa Parks
Iconic American Civil Rights Activist

Clara Barton
American Nurse who Founded the American Red Cross

14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso
Nobel Peace Price Laureate and Spiritual Leader of Tibetan Buddihsm

Coretta Scott King
American Civil Rights Leader and Author

Cicely Tyson
Award Winning American Actress

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Award Winning Nigerian Writer

Michelle Obama
Lawyer, and Former First Lady of the United States

Muhammad Ali
American Boxer and Activist

Nandar (Gyawali)
Feminist Activist in Myanmar

Nellie Bly
Pioneering American Journalist

Nelson Mandela
Former President of South Africa and Anti-Apartheid Activist

Dyllan McGee
Award Winning Documentary Filmmaker

Dorothy Vaughan
American Mathematician and Human Computer with NASA

Dorothy Pitman Hughes
American Feminist, Child-Welfare Advocate, and Activist

Doris Lessing
Nobel Prize Laureate British-Zimbabwean Novelist

Deb Harland
US Secretary of the Interior, 1st Native American to Serve as a Cabinet Secretary

Mary Jackson
American Mathematician and Aerospace Engineer

Masih Alinejad
Iranian-American Journalist, Author, and Women's Rights Activist

Medgar Evers
American Civil Rights Activist and NAACP's first Mississippi Field Secretary

Michelle Bachelet
Former Chilean (1st Woman) President and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Maya Angelou
American Poet and Civil Rights Activist

Frederick Douglass
American Abolitionist and Orator

Faith Ringgold
American Artist and Intersectional Activist

Elizabeth Blackwell
The First Woman to Earn a Medical Degree in the United States

Eleanor Roosevelt
Former First Lady of the United States, Diplomat, and Activist

Frida Kahlo
Mexican Painter and Feminist Icon

Margaret Hamilton
American Computer Scientist and Systems Engineer

Martha Scott of Jane
Member of the Jane Collective, a Pre-Roe All-Women Underground Network of Abortion Service

Marsha P Johnson
American Gay Liberation Activist


Martin Luther King Jr.
American Minister and Iconic Civil Rights Leader and Activist

Harriet Tubman
American Abolitionist and Social Activist

Hank Aaron
Record Breaking Baseball Player who Broke Racial Barriers

Greta Thunberg
Swedish Environmental Activist

Grace Lee Boggs
American Writer, Social Activist, Philosopher, and Feminist

Gloria Steinem
American Journalist, Social Political Activist and Feminist Leader

Malala Yousafzai
Pakistani Female Education Activist and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

Malcolm X
American Muslim Minister and Prominent Human Rights Activist

Manizha
Russian-Tajik Singer and Goodwill Ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Marcella Nunez-Smith
American Physician-Scientist and Founding Director of the Equity Research and Innovation Center

Margaret Sanger
American Reproductive Rights Activist and Sex Educator (Acknowledged Controversial Figure)

Hasina Kharbhih
Indian Social Entrepreneur and Anti-Trafficking Activist

Houda 'Khtek' Abouz
Moroccan Rapper and Women's Rights Advocate

Helen Keller
Blind and Deaf American Author, Disability Rights Advocate, and Political Activist

Harvey Milk
Civil and Human Rights Leader and First Openly Gay Elected Official in California

Henry Belafonte
American Singer, Actor and Civil Rights Activist

Loretta Ross
American Activist, Academic, and Feminist

Lorraine Hansberry
American Playwright, Writer, and 1st African American Female to Author a Broadway Play

Loujain al-Hathloul
Saudi Women's Rights Activist and Political Prisoner

Maatalii Okalik
Inuit Human Rights Activist

Mahatma Gandhi
Indian Lawyer, Anti-Colonial Nationalist, and Nonviolent Resistance Leader

Ida B Wells
American Investigative Journalist, Leader of the Early Civil Rights Movements, and a Founder of the NAACP

Jacinda Arden
Former Prime Minister of New Zealand, the World's Youngest Female Head of Government

Isra Hirsi
American Environmental Activist

Isabel Allende
Award Winning Chilean Writer Recognized for Literary Artistry and Humanitarianism

Ilhan Omar
United States Representative, the 1st Somali American in US Congress and the 1St Woman of Color to Represent Minnesota

Kamala Harris
1st Female, African American, and Asian American to Serve as US Vice President

Katherine Johnson
American Mathematician who's Work was Critical to 1st and Subsequent NASA Spaceflights

Kathleen Cleaver
American Law Professor and Activist

Laverne Cox
Award Winning American Actress and LGBT+ Advocate

Linda Sarsour
Palestinian Muslim American Political Activist and Co-Chair of 2017 Women's March

Janet Mock
American Writer, Director, and Transgender Rights Activist

Joan Baez
American Singer, Songwriter, Musician, and Activist

Jane Fonda
American Actress and Activist

James Baldwin
American Writer and Civil Rights Activist

Jackie Robinson
1st African American to Play in Major League Baseball

John Lewis
Former US Congressman and Civil and Voting Rights Activist