When: Thursday, February 29, 2024
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Oswego Heritage House
Art + Community in Conversation is a free lecture series hosted by the Arts Council of Lake Oswego and made possible by generous support from Josie Mendoza and Hugh Mackworth.
The next installment of Art + Community in Conversation will feature artists Terresa White and Mike Suri. The conversation will begin with their unique journeys into practicing art, while sharing how they became collaborators on outdoor public art projects. Through examples of their process, like three-dimensional models and prototypes, they will discuss the dynamics of collaboration and what goes into creating monumental public artwork. White and Suri recently completed a public art commission that celebrates the unique landscape and ecology of Errol Heights Park in Southeast Portland. The 15-foot collaborative artwork combines their respective mediums of bronze and steel. It includes three tall, slender steel forms that echo the trees in the park, collecting and draining rainwater. A bronze mask is attached to each of the three steel forms, combining human faces with various flora and fauna of the park.
TERRESA WHITE
Terresa White’s art practice draws inspiration from her Yup’ik Alaska Native, French and mixed European ancestry. Central to this inspiration is Yup’ik stories of transformation and the Yup’ik understanding of the interrelationship and spirit of all beings, including human and animal people, water and sky people, river, sea, rock, and beings we cannot see. Her artwork, created using ceramics and bronze, explores traditional themes and their interplay, confluence, and divergence with urban life in the Pacific Northwest. White's bronze work, Dependent Arising: Owl and Lemming, became a part of Lake Oswego's permanent outdoor collection in the Gallery Without Walls in 2021. See more of Terresa’s work: @terresawhite and terresawhite.com
MIKE SURI
Mike Suri is an artist, educator, and custom fabricator. He has participated in numerous regional public art projects. Suri also has sculptures in Lake Oswego's permanent outdoor collection, including Sprout in 2010 and Clackamas in 2016. He approaches the art of metalcraft experimentally, using a variety of techniques and equipment, both traditional and non-traditional. He also dedicates a considerable amount of time to teaching the skills of practical fabrication, direct metal sculpture, and blacksmithing while also mentoring apprentices in his studio. See more of Mike’s work: @suri_iron and suriiron.com