Presenting Fearless Portraits, stories of women leaders, innovators, and trailblazers. Some of them are well-known, some are obscure, all of them worked to make a difference in the world. In each episode, you’ll learn the story of an amazing changemaker in the time it takes to drink your morning coffee. Fearless Portraits is hosted by Dan Landau, a New Jersey-based visual artist who repurposes maps and other items with ink drawings and intricate papercutting to create portraits of people and things.
Shaymaa Ismaa’eel
Muslim who stood up to Islamophobia with joy
The Art:
Ink drawing of Shaymaa Ismaa’eel flashing a bright smile and peace sign while wearing an orange hijab. She’s drawn on a map of Washington, DC, where she encountered the anti-Muslim protestors that inspired her smile.
The Story:
It was a warm spring day in Washington, DC and Shaymaa Ismaa’eel was attending a large Islam...
Anne Frank
Author
The Art:
Ink drawing on a map of Amsterdam, Netherlands. The rooms where Anne Frank and her family and the others spent 25 months hiding from the Nazis are now a museum and it is located to the left of her eyes.
The Story:
Born in 1929 in Germany, Anne Frank and her family moved to the Netherlands when she w...
Michaela Goade
First Native American illustrator to win the Caldecott Medal
The Artwork:
Ink drawing of Michaela Goade on a map of southeastern Alaska. She is holding an open copy of We Are Water Protectors. Sitka, the ancestral home of her people and where she currently lives, is on...
Coming June 27, Fearless Portraits returns for a second season telling stories of women who worked to change the world.
I’ve been working hard collecting new stories and drawing portraits of amazing women that will be coming to your podcast feed for Season 2 in the new year. But for now, here is an interview I did this week with John and Rachel, hosts of the YaJagoff! show on Pittsburgh’s Q92.9 FM about the Fearless Portraits art project.
Dr. Katalin Karikó
Biochemist who pioneered mRNA, the technology behind the successful COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.
The Artwork:
Ink drawing on a map of Philadelphia, PA. The University of Pennsylvania where she did much of her research is located near her chin.
The Story:
Doubted and then demoted by academ...
Dr. Harry Hollmann
Writing about chemist Alice Ball and her groundbreaking cure for leprosy in a scientific journal
The Artwork:
Ball’s portrait in the Fearless Portraits project consists of an Ink drawing on a map of Honolulu, HI. The Univer...
Robin McBride
Co-founded McBride Sisters Wine Company with Andréa McBride, the largest Black-owned wine company in the US
The Artwork:
The McBride’s portrait in the Fearless Portrait project consists of an ink drawing of the two of them on a map of...
Masako “Ma-chan” Wakamiya (若宮正子)
Octogenarian app developer
The Artwork:
Ma-chan’s portrait in the Fearless Portraits project consists of an Ink drawing on a map of Kanagawa, the prefecture she lives in, just south of Tokyo. She’s seated on the floor next to a traditional Japanese short-legged table with a laptop open on it.
The Story:
Masako “Ma-chan” Wakamiya got her first co...
Kamryn Gardner
First grader who asked Old Navy to make jeans with pockets
The Artwork:
Gardner’s portrait in the Fearless Portraits project consists of an Ink drawing of her holding her new pocketed jeans on a map of northern Arkansas. Bentonville, where she lives is located just over her head and the left.
The Story:
Seven-year-old Kamryn Garder of Bentonvill...
Dr. Chien-Shiung Wu (吳健雄)
Experimental physicist, known as the “First Lady of Physics”
The Artwork:
Wu’s portrait in the Fearless Portraits project consists of an Ink drawing on a map of Manhattan, New York City. Columbia University, where she worked, is located in the collar of her lab coat on the l...
Janet Yellen
First female Secretary of the Treasury
First female Chair of the Federal Reserve
Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors
First person to hold all three roles
The Artwork:
Yellen’s portrait in the Fearless Portraits project consists of an Ink and colored pencil drawing on a map of San Francisco. She’s wearing a purple blazer with her trademarked popped collar. The...
Brenda Landau
Businesswoman
The Art:
Brenda’s portrait in the Fearless Portrait project consists of an ink drawing of her, on a map of Guatemala. Her hometown of Salama, Baja Verapaz, is visible on her neck.
The Story:
The day after New Year’s, 2021, Brenda Landau went out for a long run.
It’s just her. Feet pounding the pavement. The miles ti...
Maggie Kuhn
Elder rights activist & founder of the Gray Panthers
The Artwork:
Maggie Kuhn’s portrait in the Fearless Portrait project consists of an ink drawing of her Ink drawing on a map of Philadelphia, PA, where she lived and worked.
The Story:
In 1970, Maggie Kuhn was working a job she loved at the Presbyterian Church when she was forced to retire due to the mandatory retireme...
Dasia Taylor
Inventor
The artwork
Dasia Taylor’s portrait in the Fearless Portrait Project consists of an ink drawing on a map of Iowa. Her hometown of Iowa City is located on the right side, where her neck meets her shoulder.
The story:...
Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte
First Native American to earn a medical degree
The Artwork:
Picotte’s portrait in the Fearless Portrait project consists of an Ink drawing of her n an 1886 map of Nebraska; the Omaha Reservation is marked on top right side of her head. The portrait is based on one of the few photographs that exist of Picotte.
The Story:
The winter of...
Admiral Michelle Howard
Highest ranking female officer in US Navy history
The artwork:
Howard’s portrait in the Fearless Portrait project consists of an Ink drawing on a map of Washington, D.C. The Pentagon, where she served for part of ...
Cornelia “Corrie” ten Boom
Member of the Dutch resistance, evangelist, and author
Artwork:
Ten Boom’s portrait in the Fearless Portrait project consists of an ink drawing of her on a map of the Dutch city of Haarlem. There is a red dot near her nose to mark the location of The Hiding Place, that is the home where she and he...
Iris Haq-Lukolyo
Fifth grade student
The artwork:
Iris Haq-Lukolyo’s portrait in the Fearless Portrait project consists of an ink drawing of her holding a copy of the magazine with her article in it, while wearing a T-shirt that with Kamala Harris’ “I’m Speaking” quote on it. I’ve drawn her on a cont...
Julia Margaret Cameron
Photographer
The artwork:
Ink drawing on a map of the Island of Wight, UK, based on a self portrait by Julia Cameron. Her home in Freshwater is located on the left side, above her head.
The story:
Julia Cameron began career as a photographer relatively late at the age of 48, when she was given her first camera. A present from her daughter, the camera...
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