Industry City hosts art exhibit highlighting 200 south Brooklynites

Industry City is holding an art exhibition that features portraits of south Brooklynites until March 25.

Called “We are South Brooklyn,” the exhibit has 200 oil paintings of people from the area, ranging from a police officer to a nurse and many others.

Each was painted by Rusty Zimmerman, founder of The Free Portrait Project, a non profit art organization that started in 2015 when he painted 200 portraits of Crown Heights residents. 

Zimmerman decided to do the exhibit in the south Brooklyn area where over 650 local residents applied for a portrait. 

During the project, the artist recorded oral histories from each individual selected during four-and-a-half hour sittings.

“The whole thing is an elaborate trick to get neighbors to say hi to each other,” he explained. “We up-end the tradition of portraiture reserved for a wealthy few by making these paintings free.”

The exhibition opened with a parade that started at the Sunset Park’s recreation center and ended at Industry City for a reception Feb. 24. Many people featured in the paintings attended the celebration.

After its 30 day run, the paintings will be given to the participants, while the audio will be offered to the Brooklyn Public Library’s Center for Brooklyn History.

The exhibition is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. at Building 8 at Industry City, 900 3rd Ave.