I’ve written about my friend Chris Holbrook before on the MBIP blog. If you missed those posts, you can catch up by clicking here and here.

Chris and I became friends in high school and one of the things we bonded over was a love of drawing. We were the two designated “artists” of our high school class, although Chris was always more of a true and dedicated artist than I was.

One of the reasons I pursued art back in high school was that girls thought it was cool that I could draw. It was one of the few things that girls found cool about me, so I pursued this talent for that sole reason. Chris was on a different level from me on an artistic level.

After high school, Chris lived in Florida for a while and I ended up moving to New York in 1993. By then I had gotten into writing and stopped drawing. Writing fulfilled my creative needs and Chris never understood that. Every time our paths would cross through the years, he’d always say to me in a disappointed tone, “So you never draw anymore?” It always cracked me up and I always told him that.

It was something we both laughed about. But after we laughed, he’d always repeat, “So you don’t draw at all anymore?” Ha ha ha!

Chris was a teacher, illustrator, and printmaker. He ended up at Bradley University and was an instructor of art and influenced and help shape scores of young artists.

Chris left this earth this earth in 2018, but there’s a legacy of his artwork for all of us to enjoy.

A collection of his art recently went on display at The Peoria Riverfront Museum and I thought today we’d go and check it out. So let’s head over there and take a look at some of Chris’ work on display.

Here we are at the Peoria Riverfront Museum in beautiful downtown Peoria.

We are now inside and I purchased a ticket and this nice woman (who’s name I have forgotten and I apologize for that!) pointed me in the direction of Chris’ art display.