As part of the Oregon Historical Society's upcoming exhibit on African American murals, local artist Adriene Cruz will be giving a talk about her work at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 20 at Portland Community College Cascade Campus in Portland.
Cruz is primarily a textile artist, although she is better known for her design of the Killingsworth Street MAX Yellow Line stop.
"I'm going to talk about how a textile artist ends up with a brush in her hand," she told The Skanner News.
Although Cruz is not a muralist – the focus of the historical society's upcoming exhibit – she did know the late Charlotte Lewis, a celebrated Northeast Portland artist responsible for several outdoor mural projects, and will talk briefly about her work. A showcase of Lewis' work is on display on the second floor of the North Portland Library (pictured above). The majority of the exhibit is only available to view during open computer lab hours.
Cruz says she will welcome input and questions from the audience, which she prefers to an open ended speech about herself.
"The whole idea of being an artist is so you don't' have to speak," she said.
