Live Painting with Artist Leonard Harmon

Every day from Thursday, March 28, 2024 to Friday, March 29, 2024 at 11:00 AM

Free. Reservations not required. 

Oregon-based Indigenous artist Leonard Harmon will be live painting in the Great Hall leading up to the Art After Dark event on Friday, March 29 from 5–9 p.m. This event is presented in partnership with Urban Native Collective. ⁠

Schedule:

Thursday, March 28, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. (with breaks in between)

Friday, March 29, 11 a.m.–9 p.m. (with breaks in between)

“They say the truth is in the eye of the beholder… but who’s looking?”

~ Leonard Harmon

Leonard Harmon has always been drawn to a life of expression. Leonard credits a large part of his passion to, as he puts it, his “direct bloodline to art”. His father was a furniture maker and his uncle, and namesake Leonard Allen Harmon, was a well-known portrait artist featured in the Heard Museum of Arizona. Art, in one form or the other, was always present in his life. As a young man he was inspired by his grandparents love of cooking to attend Johnson & Wales University, one of the finest culinary schools in the country, where he not only learned the fine art of creating culinary masterpieces but also began to explore his love of music. Eventually touring the country as a DJ, it wasn’t until around 2010 that Leonard began to explore a new form of expression, traditional and contemporary mixed media.

In an interview with The Stranger, Leonard explains, “I like using older images to tell a new story of putting perspective on our history. As a newer artist, I like exploring all kinds of methods and mediums. Each new style I incorporate helps me express myself in a new way. I’m never scared to try new things and see where my mind takes me.”

A citizen of the Lenape Tribe of New Jersey and the Nanticoke Tribe of Delaware, Leonard currently lives on the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indian Reservation. He reflects often on traveling to Connecticut and Oklahoma to attend Powwows and be immersed in his culture. He continues to be actively involved in tribal traditions on the Siletz Reservation. This immersion is seen in his work as he takes inspiration from his ancestors to put modern spins on traditional arts.

If you need accessibility accommodations, please contact us in advance at [email protected].