Perhaps you’ll recall seeing Jeffry Mitchell’s “The Sphinx” (above, rear view) at the Portland Art Museum during its first Contemporary Northwest Art Awards exhibition.

Mitchell returns to the Museum to take part in its Artist Talk series this Thursday, August 13, 6-8 PM.

For the series, an artist chooses a work or two in the museum’s collection to talk about…as the museum puts it “a work of art that delights, puzzles, or inspires him.” We meet in the Hoffman Lobby, walk with the artist to the galleries where the artist talks—as formally or informally as s/he likes—and then return to the lobby for drinks and snacks to talk further with the artist and/or amongst ourselves. Kudos to the museum for creating casual conversation around works in the collection (this is worlds different than a lecture), for bringing in a range of perspectives. It enlivens the institution and makes for the possibilities of new and deepened relationships with both the works in the collection and the institution itself.

Free with Museum Admission.

See also, Mitchell’s “Panda” with Tivon Rice at the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle.