Art is coming to East County Library!
Seven local artists will create community-inspired artwork for East County Library. As part of the 2020 Multnomah County Library Capital Bond, we’re working with the Regional Arts & Culture Council to bring art to your new libraries. Examples include a mosaic mural at Holgate Library, metal sculptures that light up in the evening at Midland Library and more.
This community artwork is made possible through the Multnomah County Percent for Art Program, which directs two percent of the construction budget for county-funded improvement projects toward public art. Artists are selected for different projects as part of a public process. This process includes panels led by residents, business owners, artists, library staff and project partners.
These selection panels prioritize artists who have engaged with the community for their art in the past. Many of the artists are planning opportunities for the community to engage with their art during the design process.
Contribute to the art
On Wednesday, August 13, we’re inviting members of the community to contribute to the art for East County Library. Join us at Gresham Library from 4 to 6:30 pm for two separate art activities hosted by artists Paula Champagne and Kai’ila Farrell-Smith. Learn more about both of these remarkable artists below. You can participate through stencil making, fabric weaving and getting a silhouette portrait made. There will also be snacks and a raffle to win an art print!
Meet the artists
Photo courtesy of Terrellyn Faye.
Paula Champagne: elevator bays
Paula Champagne is a visual storyteller whose work explores the intersection of Blackness and the natural world. Champagne uses film, illustration, murals, painting and more to create narratives honoring place and identity. She’s currently working on her first children’s book, inspired by her connection to land and life in Portland, Oregon.
Champagne will create artwork for five different interior walls on each of the four levels of East County Library, which will include the library’s main elevator bays. Check out a video of Champagne creating a mural for Google’s Portland office in 2022 on Instagram.
Ka'ila Farrell-Smith: living room wall artwork
Ka'ila Farrell-Smith is a contemporary Klamath Modoc artist, writer and activist based in Modoc Point, Oregon. She explores the space between the Indigenous and Western paradigms with paintings, illustrations with wild harvested pigments and stenciling found detritus. Farrell-Smith’s artwork has been featured at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Gallery of Art, the Portland Art Museum, the Seattle Convention Center and more.
Farrell-Smith will create large wall-mounted artwork on the two walls that create a backdrop to the library’s central living room, a communal space that encourages connection. See a recent example of her work from an exhibit at the Russo Lee Gallery in Portland.
Michaela Goade: outdoor play area
Michaela Goade is a New York Times bestselling illustrator and a Caldecott Medalist. Her book Shanyaak’utlaax: Salmon Boy won the 2018 American Indian Youth Literature Award for Best Picture Book. Goade is an enrolled member of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska and her work has recently focused on Indigenous children’s literature.
For East County Library, Goade is creating work inspired by the characters and imagery in her book Berry Song, a Caldecott Honor Book, in the children’s outdoor play area wall. To get an idea of what this artwork might look like, check out Berry Song or another of Goade’s incredible book illustrations from the library!
Crystal Schenk and Shelby Davis: plaza and rooftop sculptures
Crystal Schenk and Shelby Davis are a husband and wife artist team. Their collaborative work is based in a shared interest in storytelling, history and symbolism. Schenk’s sculptures address issues of physical and mental health and illness, class, memory and social interaction. Her work has been published in Sculpture and Craft magazines. Davis teaches Industrial Design and Sculpture at the Art Institute of Portland, and is inspired by the natural beauty in the Blue Ridge foothills, where he grew up.
Schenk and Davis are collaborating on a series of sculptures for East County Library. They’ll depict local landscapes using concrete, glass with internal lighting, and small figures interacting with each other and their environment. Scenes will include:
- A father and daughter sitting near Multnomah Falls.
- A grandmother teaching her granddaughter basket weaving by the Columbia River.
- A girl in bed looking at the horizon near Mount Hood.
- And more!
When describing the artwork, Schenk and Davis wrote, “The sculptures all stand on their own, but taken together are a tribute to our community and our connection to each other and the land through story, teaching, and our imaginations.”
Mike Suri and Terresa White: NW Eastman Pkwy sculptures
Mike Suri is an award-winning sculptor and educator whose work explores landscape, built environments and personal history. He aims to create opportunities and leave an impact on his students and community through his artwork.
Terresa White is a contemporary ceramicist and artist inspired by her Yup’ik Alaska Native heritage, including Yup’ik stories of transformation. Her work explores traditional themes and the intersection with her urban life in the Pacific Northwest.
For East County Library, Suri and White are collaborating on three bronze and stainless steel sculptures. The sculptures will celebrate themes of migration, the richness of the diversity of East Multnomah County and the role East County Library will play as a portal to connection and discovery. Each sculpture will feature an empty circular space at the center.
The circular space “symbolizes a portal to the endless possibilities within the worlds of knowledge and imagination,” wrote Suri and White when describing their work. “Just as the library serves as a gateway to new ideas, stories and perspectives, these open circles invite viewers to explore transformative journeys that begin with curiosity and learning.”