Jan Reaves

The masterful paintings of Jan Reaves will be honored during the month of December in “Jan Reaves: A Memorial Exhibition.” Reaves passed away in July 2018 leaving behind an artistic legacy, a beloved teaching community, and a prolific art career that spanned nearly four decades. This exhibition highlights Reaves’s artistic vision in a series of abstract paintings. Reaves is well known for her use of gestural shapes, overlapping forms, and range of color. As friend and associate professor of art Cara Tomlinson noted, “[Jan] was an artist who channeled energy through her whole being to create embodied deeply felt paintings…She stands as an example of how to live a kind and generous life as an artist and teacher.”

Jan Reaves joined the University of Oregon’s faculty in 1988 where she taught as a senior instructor in Art until 2018. Her paintings have been exhibited regionally and nationally and she was featured four times in the Portland Art Museum’s Oregon Biennial, winning the Juror’s award in 2001. Reaves received her BFA and subsequent MFA from the University of Oregon in 1983. Her work has been exhibited at Western Oregon University, Monmouth, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, St. John’s University, Jamaica, NY, and the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, CA. Her work is in the collections of the Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR; the Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR; the Regional Arts & Culture Council for Multnomah County, Portland, OR; and the University of Oregon College of Education in Eugene, OR.

Memorial Exhibition

December 5 – 21, 2019

Press Release