Terri Warpinski’s 24-page resume includes many listings of exhibitions, critical reviews and other artists’ engagements.
Warpinski, currently the vice provost of Academic Affairs, has held nationwide exhibitions of her art, a combination of photography and mixed media, and she has been critically reviewed by The Oregonian, The New York Times and other publications.
“(My work) is deeply rooted with human connection to the natural world,” she said. “If it’s healthy, it’s always changing.”
Her work is currently on display at the Jacobs Gallery at the Hult Center. The exhibit ends Saturday.
When she not working with campus museums, School of Architecture and Allied Arts task forces and Portland programs, she’s in the studio.
“It’s absolutely lovely being in my work space and exploring my work and challenging myself on my own terms,” Warpinski said.
Life as a professional artist, however, can be just as demanding as her work at the University. Especially when it comes to preparing her work for a show.
“You can almost hit the wall, not much different than crashing for finals,” she said.
Travel has allowed Warpinski to expand artistically. During a sabbatical to remote areas of Queensland, Australia, Warpinski captured how the spiritual life of aborigines is deeply rooted in their landscape. She also traveled to Israel on a Fulbright research grant, a place she chose because of the interaction of three different religions within the same land.
Warpinski came to the University 22 years ago to teach art. She moved from teaching to administration in 1997 when she became associate dean of the AAA school. She started her current position in 2003.
In the years that Warpinski has been here, she has led several summer field courses in photography, including one in the small Italian town of Oira last summer.
It was during a course in Eastern Oregon that she met Garry Fritz, a former architect and head of capital projects and repairs for University Facilities Services. The two connected through their love of travel and photography.
“After … sailing through gale force winds in the San Juans, side slipping through traffic in Cairo, weathering turbulence over the Red Sea, driving a red Camaro convertible around to chase the evening light near Santa Fe, racing through museums in Chicago and down steep stairs from Al Dier in Petra, we were married on December 21, 2001,” she said in a 2004 Emerald article.
The collaborative art of Warpinski and Fritz was featured in a 2004 exhibition, “Art in the Family,” at the Jacobs Gallery at the Hult Center. They were already planning their next show, “Double Vision,” which would combine their different takes artistically in the same places.
But five days after the opening of “Art in the Family,” Fritz died suddenly of cardiac arrest at the Downtown Athletic Club. Warpinski had to alter her plans for “Double Vision” by reducing the part of the exhibit that puts their work side by side and by adding work from six former students of the Eastern Oregon field course.
Warpinski said the her husband’s death at 54 has motivated her to do her very best work.
“I can’t count on tomorrow, so I better get something done today,” she said.
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