Evanston Artist Richard Halstead, whose studio resides in the City of Evanston’s Noyes Cultural Arts Center, contributed to the City of Evanston a series of four original portraits of City employees who work in emergency services.

The series is on display on the second floor of the Evanston Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave.

Actual City employees posed for the paintings, though Halstead’s goal was not to depict the individuals but rather to present symbols.  Halstead selected Evanston City employees he said had the looks he thought were symbolic of their professions in order to make this project unique to Evanston.

Halstead contributed his first painting of a firefighter in 2002, but actually envisioned this project 6-8 years earlier. One day, while paying for his lease space at the Noyes Center at the Evanston City Collector’s, he noticed a photo of a firefighter who lost his life in the line of duty.

According to Halstead, this photo was an inadequate testament to the firefighter’s contributions to the City. The photo inspired the artist to do this project to recognize the contributions of the workers who risk their lives to do their everyday jobs.

“I started thinking about a tribute to the city’s firefighters many years ago, but I really didn’t pursue the idea until one rainy night in 2000 when a huge 200 year-old elm tree fell on our house.
           
“I was so impressed with the forestry workers that I began to think more about the emergency services we take for granted until we really need them,” Halstead said.
           
The tragedy of September 11, 2001, increased Halstead’s resolve to finish the series.

In 2003, Halstead presented a painting of a forestry worker. His third painting of aparamedic was given to the City in 2004, and his serieswas completed in 2006 with the portrait of three Evanston cops.

Noyes Center tenants provide a portion of their rents in the form of service to the community. Halstead said he really believes in his community service responsibilities and wanted to do something unique for Evanston.

Halstead said he originally set out to paint the portraits of the individuals as stand-alones as he did the firefighter and forestry worker. “For paramedics, one can’t say enough about the profession without showing an individual in action,” Halstead said.

For the police painting, Halstead said, “I wanted the painting to imply a sense of tragedy and at the same time convey the dedication and determination of the police on the scene depicting their calm professionalism.

 “These people perform enormously important services for us, often under very difficultand dangerous circumstances. Thiswas my way of recognizing that and saying how muchall of us in Evanston appreciate what they do every day,” he said.
           
 “I have a little more insight now into what motivates some of them to take these special jobs, and I admire them for it,” Halstead said.

Halstead is a professional portrait artist who has painted portraits of Marshall Field V and Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, various corporate executives and university administrators and donors as well as family portraits.

His portrait of Cardinal Bernardin is in the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and his portrait of former Governor George Ryan hangs in the State Capitol in Springfield. Halstead’s studio is in the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, where he works and teaches.

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