Local Artist Gives Dignity To People At Chicago Help Initiative Dinners

By Ron Polaniecki

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.

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.”

Portrait by Ellen L. Rontal

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.

Portrait by Ellen L. Rontal

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 intimate portrait of Chicago’s homeless, illustrating, “the raw emotion and subtle beauty of humans who weather adverse conditions.”

Rontal says she had been “percolating” the idea of the portraits for years. That’s no surprise, since nearly four decades earlier when she lived in Detroit, she owned an art gallery that showcased the weaving, pottery, jewelry and culture of Native Americans, particularly the Navajo Nation of New Mexico. Through that experience, she gained a more profound understanding of disenfranchised people. “I encountered firsthand life on reservations, and realized that the residents were ‘out of sight, out of mind.’” Years later, Rontal imparts, she found the same to be true of needy Chicagoans.

Portrait by Ellen L. Rontal

Jacqueline Hayes, founder and president emeritus of the Chicago Help Initiative, describes Rontal as both a “highly valued volunteer” and a “remarkable artist who’s been able to capture the essence of those who visit our programming.”

Laurel Berman, PhD, who teaches in the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) program in public health and is an advocate for the homeless community in Chicago, describes Rontal’s drawings as a “wonderful teaching aid.”

Berman explains how. “The person yelling at pigeons or having a conversation with no one may be mentally ill and very vulnerable if they are living on the street. For example, they could be taken advantage of, beaten or robbed. Many women are sexually assaulted.

Portrait by Ellen L. Rontal

“These portraits can help teach students to take a breath and think about what that person’s life might be like. The result of this pause can be to make all of us more humble and united,” says Berman.

Rontal says that one of the personal benefits of the project is that it prompts her to appreciate what she has. What’s more, she adds, it reminds her that she has nothing to complain about compared to the struggles some of her subjects face.

What’s next? In addition to seeking more opportunities to display her pencil portraits as a reminder of the humanity of the homeless, Rontal is considering a similar project focused on the elderly.

Artist Ellen L. Rontal. Below: Four portraits. All images provided by the artist

Ron Polaniecki, volunteer president of Chicago Shares, is a retired Chicago freelance writer.

Chicago Shares, a not-for-profit that offers a unique voucher program enabling generous Chicagoans a convenient and respectful way to provide one-to-one help to the needy, is pleased to have some of Rontal’s work on its website. To view more of her portraits, and learn about the Chicago Shares program, go to www.chicagoshares.org.