The Oregon College of Art and Craft has contributed more than 200 images of richly diverse works by faculty members to Artstor. The selection, which dates from 1986 to 2011, includes ceramics, fiber arts, works on paper, paintings, sculpture, installations, photographs and video.

Selected works reveal both creative and technical brilliance with results that are provocative, subversive, whimsical and beautiful.

Christine Clark. Teapot with Pink. 2007.
Christine Clark. Teapot with Pink. 2007. Hand-raised 18 gauge sterling silver with applied concrete to a welded steel wire, with flocking. Image and data from Oregon College of Art and Craft. Photograph Bill Bachhuber.
Christine Clark. Wire Teapot. 2010.
Christine Clark. Wire Teapot. 2010. 14 to 20 gauge steel wire torch welded, hand woven. Image and data from Oregon College of Art and Craft. Photograph Stephen Funk.

The teapot project, an enduring rite of passage for students in metals is represented by two versions by Christine Clark who headed the department and conceived the project: Teapot with Pink, 2007, and Wire Teapot, 2010.

Bill Will. Dream Boat. 2005.
Bill Will. Dream Boat. 2005. Casts (sculpture); bronze (metal); direct burnout of full scale custom wooden boat. Mary Bridge Children's Hospital, Tacoma, Washington. Image and data from Oregon College of Art and Craft.
Bill Will. 93.4% Un-American. 2003-2005.
Bill Will. 93.4% Un-American. 2003-2005. 288 pieces of clothing made in 42 countries (less than 7% made in the USA). Image and data from Oregon College of Art and Craft. Photograph Bill Bachhuber.

The public works of Bill Will, installation artist and sculptor who taught general studies and foundations, provoke questions and stir the imagination: Dream Boat and 93.4% Un-American.

Brian Shannon. Moorish. 2003.
Brian Shannon. Moorish. 2003. Intaglio printing; softground, hardground and aquatint etching on a copper plate. Image and data from Oregon College of Art and Craft.
Phil Harris. Fountain, Rural Washington. 2006.
Phil Harris. Fountain, Rural Washington. 2006. Platinum process; palladium process. Image and data from Oregon College of Art and Craft.
Georgiana Nehl. Still (Mountain over Mountain). 2003.
Georgiana Nehl. Still (Mountain over Mountain). 2003. Oil paint (pigmented coating); cold wax on rabbit-skin glue/ whiting; gesso on panel. Image and data from Oregon College of Art and Craft. Photograph Bill Bachhuber.

Two-dimensional works also display innovative techniques and concepts: In Moorish, 2003, Brian Shannon, Professor of Painting and Drawing, layers printing methods and motifs; Phil Harris, Chair of General Studies, combines photographic processes in Fountain, 2006; and Giorgiana Nehl, Drawing and Foundations Head, explores cultural thought and painting media in Still (Mountain over Mountain), 2003.

Heidi Schwegler. Double Think. 2009.

Heidi Schwegler. Double Think. 2009. Hydrocal (TM); paint; rubber band; casting (process). Image and data from Oregon College of Art and Craft.

The final shot goes to Heidi Schwegler’s Double Think from the series Anti-static, a pair of tussling bunnies in a metaphor for struggle. The artist who chaired the MFA in Applied Craft and Design at the College draws on craft and conceptual art in works that combine constructed artifacts, found objects and digital elements. She describes herself as an “an urban archaeologist.”

The Oregon College of Art and Craft was founded in Portland in 1907 by Julia Hoffman as The Arts and Crafts Society. With a community of faculty, artists-in-residence and students, the college awarded BFA and MFA degrees in craft. The school closed in 2019 after more than 110 fruitful years of creative mentorship with the fostering and teaching of craft as its mission.

The Oregon College of Art and Craft

– Nancy Minty, Collections editor