Chicago Artist Creating Portrait of Galesburg’s People

bakker-workshop-1A Chicago artist who is currently in a three-month residency with Knox College is gathering the pieces needed to create a picture of the local community.

John Bakker will create a portrait of Galesburg’s people during his time in town. The “Galesburg Portrait Project” as it is called, is expected to consist of more than 300 local residents featured on 300 wooden panels.

Bakker says he is in the process of collecting more than 600 pictures from area residents for the piece.

He tells WGIL that he is hoping to show the piece off to the community once it’s complete.

“I’ve constructed it in such a way that every portrait is one end of about a foot long box which means you don’t need to hang it on a wall–you can just stack them up,” says Bakker. “We are hoping it will spend some time at the public library, or at Sandburg, or in a vacant building downtown where somebody could set them up in a window. We are hoping that it travels for a couple of years, and then that it finds a home.”

Bakker has created portraits for Chicago’s 6th District Police Station and Wheaton College in the past. The total display will be 6 foot tall and 20 feet wide.

Those who wish to participate can send pictures to galesburgportraits@gmail.com

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