Portraits of our teammates that were shot by the photographers from Dear World have begun to show up on walls on both of our campuses.
In Vermont, the space formerly occupied by the huge mural Tribute to Vermont, which was removed by conservators over the weekend, has been hung with the portraits.
The removal of the 55-year-old mural, which measured 50 feet by 8 feet, went remarkably well.
A team spent Saturday and Sunday in the building slowly removing the Paul Sample painting from the lobby wall and rolling and wrapping it for transport to the Vermont Historical Society.
The painting will be restored and then installed at the society’s revamped Vermont History Museum, which National Life is helping to fund.
For the time being, employee portraits are on the lobby wall and hung on walls on each floor of the Vermont campus and in the lobby in Texas. Additional portraits will be displayed in coming weeks.
Both campuses participated in the Dear World project earlier this year. Photographers took portraits of employees after a brief, meaningful personal message had been written on their skin.
The project encouraged teammates to share with one another the tragedies, triumphs, inspirations and stories behind their messages, beautifully reflecting those who work here.
Now, those portraits are inspiring new conversations as we pass by them each day on the walls.
