Mark Smith

Howard Hall Public Art Project

John R. Howard Hall, located at the heart of the academic campus for Lewis & Clark’s College of Arts and Science, represents the first time in the College’s history that a commitment to art was made in the construction budget. The College and the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) invited artists and artist teams from the Northwest and British Columbia to submit proposals for the Howard Hall Public Art Project. Nearly 100 proposals were submitted to RACC, three semi-finalists were reviewed by Art Committee, and Portland artist Mark R. Smith was selected in October 2002.

Over the past decade, Smith has deeply explored issues of organic and natural elements juxtaposed with inorganic and human-made processes, all of this in the context of historic time passage. The work installed at Howard Hall is a culmination of concepts that have obsessed Smith for several years.

For Smith, the Howard Hall Art Project is the result of a two-year-long dialogue with members of the Lewis & Clark community and Smith’s own communion with the College environment, an idyllic and historic property on the fringe of the urban core. The following is an excerpt from his letter to the College, asking for the participation of the Lewis & Clark community:

Because the social sciences epitomize the idea of community, I would like for the artwork to reflect a collective process in its creation. Therefore to complete the project, I hope to collect actual materials from Lewis & Clark students, faculty and staff to be incorporated into the art. As a result, the College community will leave its imprint on the work, and all persons who contribute will have shared some small role in its creation. Howard Hall's construction will stress environmental consciousness and sensitivity. Similarly, through use of recycled and donated materials, the art project will reinforce that goal.

Read more:

Winter 2004 L&C Chronicle article- Howard Hall Art Focuses on ‘Community’

Arts and Ideas- Howard Hall Art Project

Elizabeth Leach Gallery- Look for more of Mark R. Smith's work

"An Intimate City" in Howard Hall