Muhammad Ali Center Has First Resident Artist

The Muhammad Ali Center has its first artist in residence. WFPL’s Elizabeth Kramer has more.Patrick Gallagher is the first artist to work at the Ali Center under a program called Dreammakers. Its aim is to advance the center’s mission to inspire people “to be as great as they can be.”Gallagher says he relates to that, having become an artist in 2006 after suffering from depression and other health problems."Everybody has greatness within themselves and I’m a living, breathing example of that," Gllagher says. "I was waiting to die kind of thing. I was miserable. And when I found this and I found that this was my calling and my passion, I went for it."Gallagher says the opportunity arose after he went to the center on a day that Ali and his wife Lonnie Ali were there."I just started doodling and 20 minutes later, Lonnie Ali walked right up to me," he says "And we started talking and I told her how three years ago I found out that I was an artist. And she said take Mr. Gallagher up to meet Muhammad immediately."Over the next six months, visitors to the center can meet and see Gallagher at work on pieces for a future exhibit called “The Ten Most Inspirational Women in Louisville.”