On Tuesday March 17 at 11.30 am PNCA student Kristin Derryberry talks to Carola Penn’s son, Lev Anderson, about her show "Who am I, anyway?" at Nationale. Carola Penn (1945–2019) was a leading NW artist whose paintings were rooted in landscapes both personal and political.
Educated in the 1960s at UC Berkeley, Penn was involved in the Free Speech and Civil Rights Movements and studied art under leading mid-century artist Elmer Bischoff. She was influenced by German Expressionism, Paul Klee, Van Gogh, and Bay Area Figurative Movement artists David Park, Richard Diebenkorn, and Joan Brown.
In 1969, Penn and her husband, Dennis Anderson, decided to move to Canada. En route, they stopped in Portland and never left. Penn graduated from Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) in 1986 and spent the rest of her life dedicating her days to painting.
Her vibrant work is being honored in three different venues this spring: Woodlands, as part of the PDX Rotating Art Program at PDX Airport; Fragments, as part of the Stumptown Artist Fellowship Program at Stumptown Downtown; and Who Am I, Anyway? at Nationale.
- KBOO