I was talking to Ricardo, standing behind a stack of paintings at an event called October Bash at Sandburg Community College. It’s an activity fair for clubs, et al., to recruit. Free lunch. Prizes. You get the idea.
Galesburg has two colleges, Knox, the host for this project and Sandburg Community College. Sandburg has been a valuable community resource especially after Maytag moved its factory and 1600 jobs to Mexico in 2004. Sandburg played a significant role in retraining workers. Consequently, the school attracts a representative cross-section of people from Galesburg which is why I was there asking for the next batch of photos.
I was explaining the project to a student, Ricardo, when he interrupted me, pointing excitedly to one of the paintings I had taken with me so that people could see what the completed project will look like. He exclaimed, “That’s my aunt! That’s my aunt! That’s my neice!” He pulled out his phone shot a picture of the painting.
It was a nice moment.
Ricardo, Dude! Send me your picture? I still need photos.
Progress report:
100 paintings done. 190 to go.
203 photos collected. 87 to go.