Second Story Gallery to feature Washougal muralist

The Second Story Gallery in Camas is kicking off its artist-in-residence program with Washougal muralist and conservation advocate Travis London.

The gallery on the second floor of the Camas Public Library in downtown Camas will display London’s latest work through May, and London will lead interactive workshops and give an artist talk at the Camas gallery later this month.

“I was in the process of putting a new collection together, so to get an offer for a show was perfect,” said London, a Vancouver Public Schools art teacher. “I love the space. I had a show there in 2009, and it was a wonderful experience.”

The gallery received a grant from the Autzen Foundation to fund the artist-in-residence program.

“This program is an exciting opportunity for our community to connect with an artist whose work not only captures the beauty of our region, but also encourages us to see and protect it in new ways,” Camas Public Library Director Connie Urquhart said.

London will debut his new collection, “Contours,” at the gallery. According to a news release announcing the art exhibit, the 10 paintings “explore the diverse landscapes and nonhuman inhabitants that make up the Pacific Northwest” and “chronicle the backcountry of some of the last wild places and aim to evoke a sense of interconnectedness, beauty and a call to protect these public lands.”

London is known in the Camas-Washougal area for the eight public murals he’s painted in Washougal over the past 20 years.

“Most of my stuff is public art or in streets, and this is a little bit different for me,” London said of his “Contours” exhibit. “It’s detailed, more intimate, I guess you could say. I spend a lot of time outdoors — hunting, fishing, backpacking. These are an homage to those places and experiences that I’ve had in these wild places.”

London said he uses his work as “advocacy pieces” by capturing the images of locations that have been altered by extractive industries such as mining, timber, oil, gas, wind farms and technology companies, and showing the impact of those changes.

“I’m using this collection as a way of showing reciprocity to the land for the experiences I’ve had, and also start conversations and hopefully encourage conversation and better stewardship of these places,” London said.

As part of the Second Story Gallery’s artist-in-residence program, London will lead two free workshops on Saturday, including one for children in first through fifth grades at 1:30 p.m. and one for adults at 3:30 p.m. Participants in the adult class will paint a local landscape. London will lead another workshop, this one meant for teens in sixth through 12th grades, at 5 p.m. May 19, and will share insights about his creative process during a talk at 6 p.m. May 27.

“My hope is that (participants) get inspired, become advocates for our public lands, have a chance to appreciate art and a creative visual space, and also come together as a community and have conversations around all those things,” London said. “Art is a great opportunity to bring people together.”

For more information, visit bit.ly/TravisLondon SecondStory.