Russo Lee Gallery is also pleased to exhibit GATHER:MAKE:SHELTER, a collaborative project founded and led by gallery artist Dana Lynn Louis. GATHER:MAKE:SHELTER is a new model of engagement, connecting people experiencing houselessness with collaborators in creative professional fields. For this exhibition, the Gather:Make:Shelter Academy pairs housed and unhoused artists together for an extended creative collaboration of hand-painted ceramic artworks and an illustrated zine of poetry. The Academy represents the work of 39 artists working together since 2018. Louis observed that “As we traversed uncharted territory collectively and globally through the pandemic, new relationships were formed and this exhibit represents 17 unique creative partnerships.” The resulting works are visual representations of transformative relationships three years in the making.
Gallery artist Dana Lynn Louis makes work that explores themes of interconnectedness, including drawings, paintings, textile, and sculptural artworks, interdisciplinary performance collaborations, and large-scale public installations. Her own artworks have been exhibited and collected regionally and internationally. Louis’s work is in the public collections of the Portland Art Museum and Regional Arts & Culture Council.
The collaborative work in the exhibition can be purchased directly on Gather:Make:Shelter's website, with 100% of the proceeds from the sales of their work going directly to their artists experiencing houselessness. CLICK HERE