Local Artist gives dignity to people at Chicago Help initiative dinners
by Ron Polaniecki
FROM THE STREETS
In the 18th century, it reportedly took artists a year to complete painted portraits of their wealthy clients. Now, with cell phone selfies, everyone has become a portrait artist.
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So why would anyone want to voluntarily invest time and talent to sketch the faces of low-income, homeless and needy people? “A hand-drawn portrait gives a person an identity,” says artist Ellen L. Rontal, an active volunteer with the Chicago Help Initiative (CHI). Eleven years ago, Rontal moved from Detroit to Chicago to be nearer her daughter and family. Soon, she found herself serving weekly meals to homeless Chicagoans and gradually getting to know the clients and their stories. “I came to realize that these people deserved to be seen,” she said. One evening, this realization led Rontal to extend an ambitious invitation to a roomful of needy people, “Who would like to have their portrait drawn?” Some were hesitant because they felt they were not attractive enough, Rontal recalls. “However, many responded enthusiastically to my offer.” So, during the next two years, Rontal created 33 black-and-white, pencil portraits from photos of her subjects. Rontal holds a bachelor of fine arts in painting from the University of Michigan, worked in commercial art, and once had her own greeting card company.
Moreover, Rontal discloses that her mother was an artist and confesses that drawing is in her blood. Part of Rontal’s creative process was visiting with her subject to cull their personal stories. “My goal,” says Rontal, “was to use my drawings to assert that these faceless people who are ignored on the streets are people who should be known. In using pencil, I am able to employ the nuance of line and shadow to gather an authenticity of emotion and uniqueness of personality,” she continued. And what were their stories? In brief, they’re as varied as those of any group of people might be. Rontal shared a few excerpts: “I have four grandchildren that keep me really busy” and “I like to take photos of nature, architecture and skylines” and “Many years ago I was shot twice in the back of the head and once in the chest…today I am blessed by God” and “I like to knit” and “I love nature, work and my wife” and “I make people laugh.” After completing her portraits, Rontal presented a copy to the subjects. The responses were gratifying, she says, sometimes bringing tears to the recipients at the reveal. Visibility of Rontal’s work got a boost in 2019 through an exhibition at the Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA), Chicago. The showing, “I Have a Name,” (October 2019), was described as an
