Alumni-created portrait of civil rights icon Fred Gray acquired by Smithsonian

The painting of Gray, a partner of Lipscomb, was painted by world-class portraitist and alumnus Michael Shane Neal.

Janel Shoun-Smith  |  01/27/2025

This month, Lipscomb alumnus and Nashville- and New York-based internationally acclaimed portrait artist Michael Shane Neal (BA ’91) celebrated the official presentation of his second painting to be acquired by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. And, the subject has a special connection to Lipscomb University.

To mark the occasion, the National Portrait Gallery held an event on Jan. 26 to celebrate the installation of the portrait of Fred D. Gray, prominent civil rights attorney who played a key role in landmark litigation to advance civil rights beginning with the Montgomery Bus Boycott in the 1950s. The free event featured a conversation with Neal and Gray about the painting and a viewing of the painting, which was installed for display on the first-floor presentation wall in December.

“As a museum of national history and portraiture, we are humbled, honored, and elated to include the portrait of Attorney Fred Gray by Michael Shane Neal into our permanent collection,” said Taína Caragol, curator of painting, sculpture and Latine art and history. “Dr. Gray is indispensable to the history of the civil rights movement. Through his legal work, he cemented many of its victories into law, helping to dismantle the Jim Crow system of segregation, and guaranteeing equal protections for African Americans under the U.S. Constitution.

“We are all also very happy to bring a second artwork by Michael Shane Neal into our collection. Neal’s portrait of Congressman John Lewis, another key civil rights figure, has been on view since 2020,” she said.  

Following the discussion at the Smithsonian, Lipscomb co-hosted a reception at the nearby Kimpton Hotel Monaco attended by university representatives, public dignitaries and friends to celebrate the acquisition and installation of the portrait.

“Fred Gray’s life and legacy are a testament to the profound impact one individual can have in shaping history through courage, conviction and faith. Shane’s portrait beautifully captures not just the man but the enduring spirit of justice and perseverance he embodies,” said Lipscomb President Candice McQueen. “This acquisition by the Smithsonian honors not only Dr. Gray’s remarkable contributions but also reflects the extraordinary talent of one of Lipscomb’s own alumni, whose work continues to inspire and impact those around him. We are proud of Shane and it was truly an honor to celebrate this significant moment in his career.”

Neal’s first work acquired by the Smithsonian was a portrait of civil rights leader and U.S. Congressman John Lewis, painted during the last year of Lewis’ life and installed in 2020, as part of the permanent exhibition “The Struggle for Justice.”

Now Neal’s portrait of Gray, the namesake of Lipscomb’s Fred D. Gray Institute for Law, Justice & Society, has been added to the same Smithsonian exhibit showcasing the determined individuals who struggled to achieve civil rights for disenfranchised or marginalized groups.

In 2022, Gray was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom recognizing his lifetime of dedication to serving others and working to make the world a better place, such as defending Rosa Parks and serving as legal advisor during the bus boycott, representing Freedom Riders, protecting participants in the Selma March, serving as counsel for the Tuskegee Syphilis Study participants and filing the lawsuits that desegregated Alabama schools.

In 2012 Lipscomb awarded Gray an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, and in November 2016, Lipscomb named its Fred D. Gray Institute of Law, Justice and Society in honor of Gray to recognize his significant impact and to continue to inspire future generations to follow in his footsteps. Launched in spring 2007, the Gray institute is based on the principle that legal change is one of the surest means to effect social change.

Gray was familiar with Lipscomb through his time as a youth attending the Nashville Christian Institute, a primarily African-American school that Lipscomb came to own and then later closed in the 1960s. He frequently visits Lipscomb to speak with students and community members. In fact, the Lipscomb and Nashville community got a sneak peek of the portrait in October 2023 at the Gray Institute’s Fred Gray Dinner, an annual event held by the institute that paid special tribute to Gray that year.

Since beginning a full-time career as an artist immediately upon graduating from Lipscomb, Neal has completed more than 600 commissioned portraits now on display around the world. He has built an international reputation for his realistic and emotive portraits, often focusing on notable figures, including politicians, military leaders and cultural icons.

His public, private and institutional portraits include U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, seven U.S. Presidential Cabinet members, former President George H.W. Bush, seven U.S. Senators, actors such as Morgan Freeman and Jimmy Fallon, and four U.S. Governors.

In spring 2026, Lipscomb will host an on-campus exhibit of works by Neal and his daughter, local portrait artist Mattie Ree Neal (LA ’20), who is serving as an artist-in-residence at the university this year. Mattie Ree Neal won the 2019 and 2020 Congressional Art Competitions for the 5th District of Tennessee, and has most recently been included in the Select 50 of the 2023 Portrait Society of America International Competition.

Despite spending his lifetime working with people of fame and notoriety, Michael Shane Neal said that painting Gray was a unique experience.

“It was a remarkable experience,” Neal said of his work with Gray. “He is truly an American hero, as was pronounced by President Biden last year, when he gave him the Medal of Freedom. He was incredibly important to the civil rights movement, not in the limelight, but without him, so many things would not have happened successfully.

“He's a very humble, sensitive and spiritual man who is brilliant, but had certainly fought in a more quiet way, particularly by using the legal system,” said Neal. “He said something to me one day that I'll never forget. He said, ‘Well, you know, all my colleagues and friends were marching in the streets, but I was marching up the steps of every courthouse.’”

When photographing Gray for the portrait, Neal noticed the afternoon light shining through the window and giving the impression of a cross behind him. Neal decided to use that in the portrait itself.

“I hope for that to be an allusion to his belief that he was doing everything within the bounds of what he believed was the ethical, moral and Christian thing to be doing,” said Neal. “He's been a minister his entire life, since he was a young man, so faith is extremely important to him, it has sustained him and given him his strength and his ability to remain so vigilant and patient in his pursuit of justice.”

Neal’s current commissions include former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Mr. and Mrs. Ross Perot Jr., former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, and former U.S. Ambassador to France Jane Hartley. Neal is the chairman of the board of the Portrait Society of America, and has won the Grand Prize Award from that society. He now has portraits housed in prestigious institutions such as the United States Capitol, the Pentagon and in various public and private collections.

Neal was a protégé of one of America’s most celebrated figurative and portrait painters, Everett Raymond Kinstler. Neal’s studio in the historic National Arts Club in Gramercy Park was formerly occupied by Kinstler and his teacher before him, Frank Vincent DuMond. DuMond not only taught Kinstler, but also Georgia O’Keeffe, Norman Rockwell and James Montgomery Flagg. Neal is only the third artist to occupy the space in over 100 years.

“I make my living painting and spending time with incredible people who touch my life every single time,” said Neal, “and I hope I touch their lives in some small way. When they leave my studio, they have no idea how important they've been to me. I spend time with people who are the greatest at what they do. It's so amazing! What an education for me to sit and listen to people who are really the most accomplished people of our time.”

Learn more...

On April 1, Lipscomb's College of Leadership & Public Service will hold the annual Fred D. Gray Lecture, part of Lipscomb’s Presidential Signature Series, featuring David French, New York Times columnist and Turner Family Distinguished Visiting Professor of Public Policy at Lipscomb, and Russell Moore, editor-in-chief of Christianity Today.