An ArtPrize Family Portrait

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Bridget Callaghan, a social worker in Traverse City, remembers a time when she was closer—literally and figuratively—with her large extended family in the Detroit area. “With each visit, the family grew bigger and bigger and more unfamiliar,” she says. In 2021, she decided to get to know those in her generation of the family better…no small feat given she has 55 first cousins. She obtained a photo of each cousin—plus those of her four siblings and herself—and set out to paint 60 individual portraits, a task that took over two years to complete. Prior to 2021, she’d never painted a portrait before, and not only did the project bring her closer to her family, but it was also accepted into the prestigious ArtPrize competition in Grand Rapids for 2024. Find her work at ​​bridgetcallaghan.com or head to GR in September to see it in the flesh!

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