Presentation by Portland artist Jeremy Okai Davis

Monday, October 30, 2023 from 5:45 PM to 7:00 PM

Salem Art Association (SAA) is proud to present this special lecture by noted Portland artist Jeremy Okai Davis. Jeremy has been featured on Oregon Art Beat and several regional and national publications, and is represented by the Elizabeth Leach Gallery in Portland.

SAA commissioned Jeremy to paint portraits of important early Oregon Black pioneers whose contributions to Oregon’s history have been overlooked. The most recent figures to join the collection are Sybil Harber (1856-1918) and America Waldo Bogle (1844-1913).

The first two major figures from Oregon’s past selected were: Ben Johnson (1834-1901) and Beatrice Morrow Cannady (1889-1974).

These commissioned portraits are now part of SAA’s Permanent Collection and are displayed in the Bush House Museum.

On Monday, October 30, Jeremy will give a special lecture in the A.N. Bush Gallery at the Bush Barn Art Center & Annex (600 Mission St. SE in Salem, Oregon). He’ll be talking about his art practice, his process, and the reasons he selected Sybil and America for this commission.

Jeremy will be answering questions from the audience after his presentation.

The doors will open at 5:45 p.m. The program will begin at 6:00 p.m.

Brief Bio: Jeremy Okai Davis (b. Charlotte, NC) received a BFA in painting from the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, NC. Davis relocated to Portland, OR in 2007 where he has continued his studio practice in addition to working as a graphic designer and illustrator. His work has been shown nationally at the Studio Museum of Harlem (New York, NY), THIS Los Angeles (Los Angeles, CA), Wa Na Wari (Seattle, WA) and The Rotating Art Program at Portland International Airport (Portland, OR). Davis’s work resides in the Lonnie B. Harris Black Cultural Center at Oregon State University and the University of Oregon’s permanent collection. Elizabeth Leach Gallery began representing Jeremy Okai Davis in 2019.

For more on Jeremy’s Work:

https://www.opb.org/artsandlife/article/jeremy-okai-davis-portland-artist-racism-healing/