Karen Weliky

Preserving a Family Legacy

When you walk into the Jeffrey Allen Gallery in downtown Portland, you are greeted by an abundance of greenery and history;  

Minaski De

Surviving the Liberation

When Minakshi De was born in 1958, the area where her Hindu family lived was called East Pakistan. Then came the bloody Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.

Karen Weliky

Painting A Better Future

A rosary and his mom’s blessing are all Roberto Oran took when he left his small village in Mexico. His faith kept him going, but his belief in higher education […]

Karen Weliky

Escaping the Taliban Through Art

When Ghu Ali Danish Kamal and his family arrived in Portland from Afghanistan, they were provided with $722 in cash. He headed straight to the art store  

Sankar Raman

Choosing the Road Less Traveled

From the start, Barbie Wu was determined to forge her own path.  Born in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1986, she comes from a family of scientists.  

Brooke Hoyer

Past Passions, New Horizons

For Ningshu Fang, the lessons that her grandmother taught her as a child are an invaluable part of who she has been, and who she has become. “She was a […]

Palmarin Merges

The Art of Learning New Things

In Japan, Palmarin Pimentel Merges has taken to going for walks around Tokyo, and creating patterns for her art work from things she sees.  

Sankar Raman

Artist Invites Viewers To Think

What’s the ideal training for a conceptual artist? Roberta Wong credits the time she spent chopping vegetables, washing dishes, and making dim sum pastries  

Karen Weliky

After Many Moves, The Music Still Plays

Ainur Zabenova vividly remembers her first violin audition at 7 years old: “The window was open and it was a beautiful sunny day with a little breeze.  

Karen Weliky

Becoming and Never Looking Back

“I always knew I was a hands-on person. I liked taking things apart and putting them back together,” says Fiaindratovo Manavihare, explaining  

Sankar Raman

From the Old, Comes Something New

Some of Yumi Torimaru’s earliest memories are of flying through the streets of Nara, Japan, on her bicycle, focused more on how fast she could go than

Karen Weliky

More Than One Way to Fly

When her calligraphy teacher, Sekko Daigo, gave Rie O’Doherty the artistic name Sora, meaning universe or sky, it reminded her of her childhood

Sankar Raman

Finding the Roots of Home

Until she met her mentor, one of the best-known art dealers in Bangalore, India, Mrunalini Giri did not think of herself as an artist. “I was just somebody who painted

Sankar Raman

Exploring Patterns of Identity

Through her love for patterns and problem solving, Shu-Ju Wang creates art that highlights the immigrant experience and the importance of ecology

John Rudoff

Weaving a New Life into a New City

When Francisco Bautista married, his father gave him the family’s 250-pound wooden foot-pedal loom. When he left Teotitlán del Valle, Mexico for the U.S.