Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Commissions an “Unofficial” Portrait of President Obama

19. Jan, 2009 0 Comments

The unique 6’ by 6’ portrait is made from 12,784 Gumballs!

RAVENNA, Ohio (Jan. 19, 2009) – While President Obama’s official portrait is significant because it’s the first time a digital camera was used to create a Presidential portrait, the “unofficial” Obama portrait commissioned by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! is unique as well – it’s the first time that more than 12,000 gumballs were used to create a Presidential portrait.
President Obama in gumballs.

When Ripley’s Believe It or Not! asked artist Franz Spohn if he could create a portrait of Barack Obama from thousands of gumballs, the artist, along with a bunch of kids from Ohio said, “Yes, we can!”

Spohn recruited dozens of volunteers to help create the portrait as part of the Martin Luther King Day celebration on January 19 at the King Kennedy Center in Ravenna, Ohio. After one hour and many sticky fingers, a one-of-a-kind work of art was born.

The 6’ by 6’ portrait will be featured in one of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museums.

“This portrait is worthy of hanging in the White House. I’m not sure if the First Lady would approve, but I guarantee the kids would love it,” said Tim O’Brien, Ripley’s VP of Communications. “It’s amazing at what can be created with only eight different colors of gumballs!”

How did they do it? The portrait contains 12,784 gumballs. Using computer technology, Spohn uses the gumballs as pixels, or points of color. He creates the design on a computer and then makes a map showing where each color of gumball goes. Volunteers follow the map and place the appropriately colored gumballs into clear plastic tubes. The 90 tubes are then mounted next to each other to form the unique portrait.

“The mural process is a great metaphor for the community working together to realize a goal,” Spohn said. “The individual gumballs don’t look like much by themselves, but they are transformed through community effort from being more or less items of little value or consequence to a beautiful and awe-inspiring image.”

Gumball Obama will join Spohn’s gumball murals of Robert Ripley, Dean Cain and Michael Jackson that currently hang in Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museums worldwide.

Why gumballs? Spohn thinks they naturally pull people together.

“And it’s quite convenient,” he says, “especially in today’s energy sensitive times, to buy my art supplies at the same time I buy groceries!”

For interviews or more information on the portrait, contact Tim O’Brien at Obrien@ripleys.com.
For the announcement at Barack Obama’s Official Inaugural Website please visit:

About Ripley Entertainment Inc.

Ripley Entertainment Inc. (www.ripleys.com), keepers of the venerable Ripley’s Believe It or Not! brand, is a global leader in location-based entertainment. More than 13 million guests visit its 73 attractions operating in 12 countries annually. The Orlando-based company also has divisions that oversee publishing, licensing and broadcast operations. Ripley Entertainment is a Jim Pattison Company, the third-largest privately held company in Canada.