'Hostage Square Chicago' exhibit on Near West Side spotlights hostages still held by Hamas

CHICAGO (WLS) -- An exhibit unveiled by the Israeli American Council called Hostage Square Chicago remembers the victims of the October 7 attack and hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.

The oversized images of American citizens, names below their photos, plastered on large milk cartons as if part of a missing persons campaign, were jarring.

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"For me walking in here today is completely surreal. This is my boy on that milk carton. I haven't seen or heard anything from in in 319 days," said Orna Neutra, whose son Omer has been missing since the October 7 attack.

The one-day large art installation on the Near West Side is meant to draw attention to hostages still being held by Hamas.

"We've got commissioned artwork all around us that represents the plight of these hostages," said Elan Carr, CEO of the Israeli American Council.

"Hostage Square Chicago" mirrors Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, considered the epicenter around of advocacy around the current hostage crisis.

"We're showing the faces of these Americans and were demanding that Hamas let them go," Carr said.

The visuals are graphic and heart-wrenching. The artists that took part in the exhibit have personal ties to the war in Gaza.

Artist Erik "Smutz" Rutzick sketched each missing person in a matter of minutes, to capture the need to preserve and share their images, and illustrate the need for their release.

"That's the whole concept is we don't have time we need to get them out before their memory and themselves fade away," he said.

Orna and Ronen Neutra stood by a photo of their 22-year-old son, who is still missing.

"We are hoping this is going to be clear message that those eight Americans, faces and names are people that we care about that it doesn't matter what your political belief. It's a humanitarian issue and we are asking everyone around us to support us," Ronen Neutra said.