Carl Sandburg College will be the temporary home for a number of works of Preston Jackson and William Butler. An opening reception for their exhibit, "Walking the Line," will take place Friday, October 8, from 5:00 pm-7:00 pm at the school's Lonnie Eugene Stewart Art Gallery. Jackson, referred to as "one of the greatest Black artists of our time," is a native of Decatur and professor emeritus of sculpture at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. In 1998, he was selected as Laureate of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois, the highest honor given to an individual in the state. And, as part of the state's bicentennial in 2018, Jackson was No. 6 on the Illinois Top 200 list celebrating the premier artists in the state's history. He specializes in bronze steel sculpture and painting. He features Martin Luther King Jr., Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, Miles Davis, Ernie Banks, Richard Pryor, and historical moments, such as the 1908 Springfield race riot, in his public art commissions. Jackson founded the Contemporary Art Center of Peoria in 1995 where Butler has served as its executive director since 2003. Jackson and Butler first featured "Walking the Line" as part of the 25th anniversary of the Contemporary Art Center, last year. Butler's work has been showcased in Illinois, New York, and Toronto, and he has pieces included in the collections at Eastern Illinois University and Western Illinois University. He paints with acrylic using brushes and paint rollers on pieces of board, paper, and canvas, has maintained a studio at the Contemporary Art Center since 1996. The works will be on display there through November 11.

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