If you take a stroll with Rusty Zimmerman past the more than 200 portraits he painted of south Brooklyn residents, he can tell you something about each one of them.

“Jasper Curry learned how to build computers from his father, and so anytime they needed a new computer they would just build one together,” said Zimmerman, founder and artist for The Free Portrait Project.

What You Need To Know

  • The Free Portrait Project's "We Are South Brooklyn" is a display of more than 200 portraits of South Brooklyn residents at Industry City in Sunset Park, Brooklyn 
  • The project was founded by artist Rusty Zimmerman. Zimmerman also collected oral histories from his neighbors while painting them 
  • Zimmerman would spend around four-and-a-half hours painting each person

It’s the result of a year’s work, on display at Industry City in Sunset Park. It kicked off with a parade through the neighborhood on Feb. 24.

Zimmerman created an online portal and put flyers up around South Brooklyn to let people know he would paint a free portrait of them they could keep for life. 650 residents applied hoping to sit in Zimmerman’s chair and have a portrait painted of them.

“Out of the first 100 or so, most folks were like, ‘wait I get to keep it?’ They just didn’t realize, and for some of the folks, the painting itself wasn’t the main thrust of what was important to them. For a lot of the people, just having someone listen to their stories for four-and-a-half hours was a gift enough,” Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman received low-cost studio space from Industry City to help him complete the project, truly a grassroots effort.

“It’s a lot about what we do, it’s a big community, almost like a huge co-working space,” said Jim Somoza, managing director for Industry City. “If we have spaces like this available, why not just use them?”

The portraits are on display five days a week through March 24. That’s when all 202 folks who sat for the portraits can take them off the wall and take them home.

As for Zimmerman? He said a nap is on the agenda.

“I went pretty hard on this work and I am looking forward to catching up with friends and spending more time with my family,” he said.

Visitors can find The Free Portrait Project’s "We Are South Brooklyn" at Industry City Building Eight, at 900 Third Avenue in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

Admission is free, but donations are accepted to help the project continue. The Free Portrait Project was founded by Zimmerman in 2015 when he painted 200 portraits of Crown Heights residents.