Valley's unsung heroes to be celebrated through series of portraits

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Bitwise South Stadium in downtown Fresno is recognizing 26 people as the unsung heroes of our community. All of their work is different, but their mission is the same - to make the Central Valley a better place

The tech hub is turning the spotlight on them through an art installation called Unmasked.

Bitwise Industries CEO Jake Soberal said it is time the Valley meets these people with passion and purpose.

"We thought, well, how fun would it be to use our voice and platform to celebrate folks doing really awesome, hard, sometimes messy work in our community that does not come with a lot of fanfare!" he said.

Their pictures will be framed and put on display for all to see.

Photographer Enrique Meza said it is the least they can do.

"The plan is to fill our whole building with images and we are just going to have a really nice event," said Meza.

Their occupations range from educators to CEOs.

Richard Burrell is one of the many featured. He's the founder of Live Again Fresno, a faith-based organization that serves children on Parkway Drive. His biggest passion is giving back.

"It means the world to me to be able to create pathways and opportunities for these young people to become something other than what they see in their daily lives," said Burrell.

You can catch Burrell's portrait and the other heroes this Thursday at Bitwise during ArtHop. If you miss it, the exhibit will stay up for the next three months.