John Bakker is a Chicago based artist. His work has been represented by two of Chicago's most significant Chicago galleries in the 80s and 90s: Marianne Deson and Deson Saunders. His work is included in private collections including Vivian Day and John Stroh in Detroit, corporate collections such as Steelcase Corporation in Munich, Germany, and public collections such as the city of Chicago’s Office of Public Art and the Sloan Collection at Valparaiso University. His work has been exhibited in the Midwest and across the country. In 2015, he was the Knox College Artist-in-Residence where he produced the Galesburg Portrait Project. Currently, he is producing a sixth portrait project for the Old Town neighborhood on Chicago’s near north side.
Bakker is also an educator. From 1982-2014 he chaired of the Department of Art and Design at Trinity Christian College in Chicago’s south suburb of Palos Heights where he still teaches. Among the graduates of Trinity's program are prominent artists, designers, highly placed art world professionals, professors and educators.
Bakker currently serves as the director of Trinity’s Seerveld Gallery, a premier site for serious contemporary art in Chicago’s south suburbs. He has held this position periodically over the last four decades.