Portret Burgemeester Henk Jan Meijer 2019
Henk Jan Meijer is a member of the Dutch Senate and was mayor of Zwolle for nineteen years. He is the second longest mayor in the history of The Netherlands serving one city. Boxem painted his farewell gift and four hundred and sixty citizens of Zwolle contributed to it.
The artwork was initiated with Deltion SPRINT Lyceum. Three hundred and forty seven of their students contributed to the painting at Stadkamer Zwolle. Afterwards the painting was finished in Academiehuis – De Grote Kerk. The local newspapers invited Zwollenaren to contribute to the artwork.
The painting was handed over at Stadsfestival Zwolle. Meijer respons:
“Ik denk dat, het feit dat hier met 460 personen aan gewerkt is, een beetje weergeeft wat mijn absolute hoogtepunt is geweest van de afgelopen 19 jaar; samen hebben we het gedaan; met elkaar maken we de stad, en dat is hier een prachtig voorbeeld van.” (“The fact that over 460 persons contributed to this painting reflects my highlight of being mayor the past 19 years; we did it together; we build this city together; this is a beautiful example of how we do things in Zwolle.”)
All participants wrote their name and a personal message in a book, which was handed over together with the portrait.
The Team-artwork is 1,7 by 1,1 meters (66,9 by 43,3 inch).
Photography: Christein van Hoffen/Matthijs van Os.
Publications:
2019. “Stadsfestival Zwolle 2019 | Aftermovie”. Stadsfestival
2019. “Vele handen ‘maken’ Meijer”; het AD, by Pieter Steenbergen.
2019. “Gezamenlijk kunstwerk als cadeau voor Henk Jan Meijer”; VIDEO RTV Focus, by Tom Neijensteijn.