Eunice Kennedy Shriver

Born Brookline, Massachusetts

Eunice Kennedy Shriver was the creative force and organizer of Special Olympics, Inc., a nonprofit charitable organization that provides training and competition in Olympic sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. In 1957 Shriver became director of the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, which was created to deal with issues of mental retardation, and several years later she established a summer day camp at her home that became the basis for Special Olympics. In 1968 the Kennedy Foundation, working with the Chicago Park District, organized the First International Special Olympics Summer Games. Currently more than 1.3 million children and adults from more than 150 countries participate in the program.

David Lenz was commissioned to paint this portrait as part of the first prize in NPG's inaugural Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Lenz embraced the idea of making a portrait of Eunice Shriver that would also include five persons with intellectual disabilities who have been involved in Special Olympics and in the Best Buddies program: (left to right) Airika Straka, Katie Meade, Andy Leonard, Loretta Claiborne, and Marty Sheets.