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Preston Jackson,Renowned Artists from Decatur. IL <br /> Re: Proposal to name downtown park area in honor of Preston Jackson <br /> Preston Eugene Jackson is a Decatur native, born and raised in Decatur, Illinois as one of 10 <br /> children. <br /> He was educated in the Decatur Public School district, earned his B.A. at Southern Illinois <br /> University,and his M.F.A.at the University of Illinois. He was named the 1998 Laureate of the <br /> Lincoln Academy of Illinois,the highest honor given to individuals in the State. <br /> Preston has served as a professor of art at Western Illinois University, the School of the Art <br /> Institute of Chicago, and as professor of sculpture and head of the Figurative area. He was <br /> appointed chair of the Sculpture Department. He also served as owner of The Raven Gallery in <br /> pP - <br /> Peoria, Illinois. <br /> Preston is an artist and sculptor who specializes in bronze and steel sculpture and painting. His <br /> works include: 5 state public art commissions through the Illinois Capital Development Board <br /> for works such as a life-size bronze sculpture of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable in Peoria, a bronze <br /> facade and doors for the Cahokia Mounds Museum, a Martin Luther King memorial bust for <br /> Danville,a bronze relief of Ernie Banks for ESPN Zone in Chicago, a bronze bust at <br /> Northwestern University of surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams(African American who <br /> performed the first successful open heart surgery)and a cast bronze sculpture of Iry Kupcinet <br /> (American newspaper columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, talk show host, and radio <br /> personality)for the City of Chicago. <br /> Preston's major works include Duo Exhibit in Rockford and the Bronzeville to Harlem show in 9 <br /> different cities,Fresh from Julieannes Garden on display in Chicago, Peoria, Madison, WI, and <br /> other cities. He is also the sculptor of The Historymakers bronze award statuettes. <br /> Preston's acclaimed works have been displayed across the United States in exhibitions. There are <br /> at least 36+public sculpture throughout Illinois designed by Decatur's own Preston Jackson. You <br /> can see an example of his sculpture work right here in downtown Decatur, Illinois which is a cast <br /> bronze monument of the 1908 Springfield Race Riot. Another sculpture commissioned by the <br /> NAACP can be found across from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in <br /> Springfield. <br /> Preston Jackson has been called `one of the greatest black artists of our time' and he is from <br /> Decatur,Illinois. Peoria Magazine referred to him as a `internationally renowned artist and <br /> performer'.His talent was born and nurtured right here in his birth city of Decatur, Illinois and <br /> this is where his legacy should reside for posterity by naming the park area in downtown Decatur <br /> where his bronze sculpture currently resides as the Preston Eugene Jackson Memorial Park, in <br /> memory of this renowned local artist who unknowingly began his prestigious artistic career at <br /> the age of 7 with his first drawing that I heard he still has in his possession today. <br /> Proposal by James A. Taylor,2641 S. Franklin Street Road, Decatur IL 62521/217855-1313 <br />