New portraits are arriving at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., and one of the most captivating is the image of Lin-Manuel Miranda in his role as Alexander Hamilton.
The Hill reports that the Hamilton portrait of Miranda is part of the “Recent Acquisitions” annual showcase introducing 25 new images to the collection of people who have made an impact in art, business, fashion, media, medicine, music and social justice.
Miranda and Jeff Bezos are two of the people in the collection being honored at the 2019 annual gala.
The portrait of the Hamilton creator to be hung in the Smithsonian was taken by Mark Seliger for the cover of Rolling Stone from 2016.
The Smithsonian shared a release announcing the Seliger portrait of Miranda, among others to the collection.
“The annual exhibition ‘Recent Acquisitions’ showcases 25 portraits to recently enter the Portrait Gallery’s renowned collection. Images of individuals who have made an impact in art, business, fashion, media, medicine, music and social justice join more than 23,000 works that recognize individuals who have influenced the history and culture of the United States. Subjects include actors Andy Garcia, Morgan Freeman and Audrey Hepburn, composer Philip Glass and civil rights activist and journalist Ruben Salazar.”
Introduced as the portraits of the 2019 American Portrait Gala honorees Frances Arnold, Jeffrey P. Bezos, Earth, Wind & Fire, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Indra Nooyi and Vogue editor, Anna Wintour will be on view as part of this exhibition.
And while Miranda brought Alexander Hamilton to life for generations, he also used his star power to lend a hand to society and culture with his fundraising efforts for Puerto Rico after the damage of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, revealed The Inquisitr .
He had expressed that Puerto Rico, the homeland of his parents and grandparents, had been on his mind constantly, and he wanted to do more to help in the recovery of the island. He crafted a charity single to raise money, and jokes that he called every Puerto Rican artist he could think of to take part, recalling that he had the idea at 3 a.m. to write a “love letter to Puerto Rico.”
Miranda also used Twitter as a way to reach out to anyone who would listen to his pleas for help, including President Donald Trump, asking him to imagine that his own family was starving, running out of food and water, but the next shipment is 11 days away.
“Puerto Ricans, that’s 3.5 million American citizens, just like Texas, just like Florida.”