Jonathon Romain began creating art as a boy in one of the toughest neighborhoods on Chicago’s West Side, where he drew on the cardboard paper inside of the shirts and pants his parents brought home from the cleaners.

Despite winning numerous competitions throughout the city, the young Romain never considered a career in art as even remotely possible and was plagued with frequent run-ins with the police since the first time he went to jail at the age of eleven.

Romain nonetheless had the wherewithal to enroll in a community college and would ultimately graduate from Bradley University in Peoria, IL with a degree in psychology. Ironically, it wasn’t until after he went to prison, two weeks after graduating college, that Romain rediscovered his passion and began to hone his craft.

During his last two years of imprisonment, while in a Peoria work release program, Romain opened a small art studio, the first in a string of successively larger galleries that he would own and operate in Peoria and Chicago.

Not only a talented artist, Romain is also a committed mentor for troubled youth who has toured schools, community centers and churches across the country with his message of redemption and sits on the  committee’s and boards of several non-profit community outreach organizations that target at-risk youth.

If you or your organization is interested in hearing Mr. Romain’s inspiring and uplifting story, call 708-829-9578 to book your reservation.