Sculptor Jerry Harris to Be Featured in February

The work of internationally known African American sculptor Jerry Harris will be featured during Black History Month at Albina Community Bank's Pearl District branch, 430 N.W. 10th Ave.
Harris will be at the exhibit's opening during the First Thursday Art Walk, from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Feb. 2. The exhibit runs through Feb. 27.
Harris, a native of Pittsburgh, Pa., studied bronze sculpture under professor James Lee Hansen,aPacific Northwest sculptor who taught at Portland State University until his retirement. Harris left PSU as an honor student and was acceptedinthe International Sculptor's Program at St. Martins College of Art & Design inLondon, England.
While at St. Martins, he did informal studies in bronze casting atLondon's Central College ofArtand Design — now called Central St. Martins — under Henry Abercrombie, a lecturer and authority in bronze casting. Harris' teachers at St. Martins were the internationally known sculptors Sir Anthony Caro, Philip King and Frank Martin.
Harris married Britt-MarieOlofssonof Stockholm, Sweden, and moved there to begin his career as an artist. He was acceptedintothe SwedishSculptors Association in 1988. Harris' work can be found in the Swedish National Art Collection and has been exhibitedthroughout Sweden and Europe in galleries and museums.
After the death of his wife in 1996, Harris returned to Pittsburgh in 1998. He was elected into the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, the nation's second-oldest artists association. There, he was befriended by another nationally known African American sculptor, Thad Mosley.
Harris was artist-in-residence at the Spinning Plate Artists Lofts in Pittsburgh until he moved to Eugene, where he has lectured at the University of Oregon on African American Artists in Europe: Past and Present. HeexhibitsinSan Francisco, Portland and Seattle and is represented by the Robert Canaga Gallery of Portland and Eugene.