In March, I Was Here brought Ancestor Spirit Portraits to the windows of downtown Winchester. The Clark County Community Foundation and The Greater Clark Foundation have joined with I Was Here artist Marjorie Guyon and photographer Patrick Mitchell to create a unique new artistic project featuring Clark County residents, titled Of Thee, I Sing.

Thanks to historical records documented in Lyndon Comstock’s book “Before Abolition: African-Americans in early Clark County, Kentucky,” the project at first transports viewers to Clark County in 1810, where a woman named Hannah gave birth to her first child, Daniel.

Hannah was enslaved, and her owner, Jeremiah, was Daniel’s father.

Near Christmas one year, Jeremiah took Daniel and his mother to the courthouse in downtown Winchester, where Daniel was torn from the arms of his mother and sold. He was 7 years old.

Photographs of contemporary Clark County residents have been transformed into a series of pieces which tell the stories of Daniel and Hannah, and in turn serve as a representation of the stories of so many people throughout the American south.

Of Thee, I Sing moves out beyond the story of Daniel and Hannah into a depiction of who we could be … of how we can begin to see ourselves and each other differently.

“The images began with photographs of people in this community,” according to an artist statement released by CCCF Monday. “Yet, the layers that transformed images into art bring to life the layers in each of us. In this art, there are cues we all recognize: numbers, words, water and shadows. The touch of a hand, a parent and child, the mystery of a cloak, a spirit shining through the eyes. Whiteness, blackness and color appear in unusual ways and settle in new places. Patterns illuminate and disguise. A parent proudly protects or fades away, neither thing in the child’s control.”

“This is not a project about blame or persecution of these historical wrongdoings,” said Blanton Coates, vice chair of the Clark County Community Foundation.

The pieces shed light on the fact we have no control over the circumstances of our birth, but we do have control over how we see ourselves and our neighbors. The images are a reminder those whose ancestors faced circumstances like Hannah and Daniel are still fighting systems that hold African-Americans back.

Of Thee, I Sing is an invitation to create a community rooted in our shared humanity, according to the press release.

“The story of Clark County is the story of America,” said Travis Sewalls, chairman of The Greater Clark Foundation.

The 21 images that comprise Of Thee, I Sing will be revealed from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10, at First Baptist Church, 37 N. Highland St.

The reveal is open to the public and will allow members of the community to see faces of people they know — family, loved ones, co-workers, neighbors and friends — who were models for each original work of art.

After the reveal, the original pieces will be on display through December in the Opera House Gallery.

Each original will be replicated as a piece of public art that will be installed in locations throughout Clark County in 2020.