A few years ago, Basia Jaworska was working on a screenplay about her parents, who lived through World War II in Poland. They were teenagers at the time and Ms. Jaworska was uncovering their heroic journey as resisters during the war.

“They were pretty damn cool,” she remembered thinking, gaining more appreciation for her parents and how they had tried to stand up against injustice. She then started thinking about activists in general and began painting portraits of people who inspired her. "When I opened up my mind to this landscape all sorts of people popped in."

The result of this creative moment can be seen at the MVTV gallery on Edgartown/Vineyard Haven Road. The exhibit contintues through Nov. 30 and there will be an opening reception on Thursday, Oct. 12 from 4 to 6 p.m.

The art project includes 12 activists but is not limited to just the portraits. Ms. Jaworska created an audio component so viewers can be transported by the words of each particular person and thematic music.

For example, the oral accompaniment to the portrait of Muhammed Ali begins with Jimi Hendrix playing the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock, and then fades into Muhammed Ali talking during an interview. The portrait of Erin Brokovich opens with Patti Smith singing People Have Power, and for a group of Kurdish freedom fighters there is traditional Kurdish music followed by an interview describing their cause.

The portraits range from the familiar to the lesser known, and also travel the world. Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee, who helped orchestrate a sex strike to bring attention to women’s rights, taking a page from the ancient Greek play Lysistrata, is represented as well is Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist and youngest Nobel Prize laureate.

There is also a companion exhibit of portraits of jazz and blues musicians, with a soundrack created by Laurel Redington of MVY.

In her artist statement about her activist exhibit, Ms. Jaworska says: “I honor the subjects of my paintings for their sheer gutsiness in taking on monolithic forces of destruction . . . . I hope you leave feeling as inspired as I was in painting them.”

The MVTV gallery is located at 58 Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road.