Seerveld Gallery: Artist Talk and Reception with Prof. John Bakker

The Seerveld Gallery presents an artist talk and reception featuring Professor of Art & Design John Bakker and the Roseland Portrait Project.

The artist talk and reception will take place on Thursday, Feb. 3, with the talk at 6 pm in the ArCC Lobby and the reception at 7 pm in the Seerveld Gallery.

Bakker has created the portrait project with the residents of Roseland, a neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side.

The more than 200 panels represent friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Each was painted from a photo supplied to the artist. Regardless of status — an alderman on Chicago’s City Council, an immigrant teacher, a client at the Roseland Christian Ministries Sunday breakfast, a cook at Old Fashioned Donuts, a student at Corliss High School, a tech at Roseland Community Hospital — Bakker’s goal is to demonstrate the unique value and dignity of each individual, the intersecting networks that they inhabit, and their contribution to the Roseland neighborhood’s rich social fabric. Taken together, the portraits represent a community in a state of imperfect order, with each member helping to support the whole.

Begun in 2018 and continuing until all 312 panels representing approximately 392 people when complete, the project will continue to travel to a variety of public locations until finding a permanent home in the community.

About the Seerveld Gallery

The Seerveld Gallery, located in Trinity’s Art & Communication Center, exhibits a cross section of work and viewpoints from across the art world. The gallery presents shows by professional artists each year, from internationally known artists to Chicago artists.