The OSU Portland Center proudly displays the work of student artists. Until you can visit us again in person, please enjoy our virtual art exhibit.

Healing Through Art

  • “A true artist is not one who is inspired, but one who inspires others.” ~ Salvador Dali

    We invited youth ages 9-19 to submit works related to the theme "Healing Through Art." All mediums were accepted. Their original creations offer a look into their lives during the past year.

    Please enjoy our virtual art show, brought to you by these young artists, the Oregon 4-H Youth Development Program, and the OSU Portland Center.

Elementary School
Brooke, 4th Grade
I want to bring joy to hearts and faces. I also think everyone needs flowers to bring them joy.
Brooke, 4th Grade
I wanna help people in need and I love giving people flowers cards brings joy to peoples faces and hearts. (sic)
Zoey, 5th Grade
When I was painting this, I was feeling anxiety about school, gymnastics, and of course the pandemic. Sometimes to work out your feelings you just need to talk to someone, and a lot of people talk through art, and that is what I did with this piece of art. The materials that I used are red markers, red watercolors, paper, glue, scissors and cardboard.
Forrest, 4th Grade
My name is Forrest. I am 10 years old and a 4th grader in Portland, Oregon. This is a painting of my cat Nacho. I painted him because he is a cute cat.
Oliver, 4th Grade
The reason I chose this artwork is because Play-Do is very fun to me and I chose to do my family for my artwork. The reason I chose my family is because I like to remember all of the things that I did with each and every one of them. It shows I how I have started out as a baby and seen all the people as I have gotten older.
Middle School
Ren, 8th Grade
This artwork was something I drew when experimenting with a new artstyle. It's a drawing of the character "Gamzee Makara" from the popular webcomic 'Homestuck.' It's one of the drawings I'm most proud of and one I hold dear to me.
Ren, 8th Grade
The video shows the artist's creative process to create the final work.
Justine, 8th Grade
This painting is a pouring technique where you get a cup and fill it with liquid painting and flip the cup on the canvas but I did something a little different, I had 2 cups and poured it on the canvas instead of flipping it on the canvas. I wanted to use bright colors and dark colors so I chose rainbow and black and white.
Justine, 8th Grade
This painting I had one like it so I wanted to do it in different colors and different textures so I chose blue and black What I did was layer paint on pretty thick then let it dry and then I took a paint pen and drew on the flowers and that was it.
Rachel, 8th Grade
The drawing I submitted is of my younger cousin’s beloved pet that recently passed away from cancer. My cousins had been with him since they were born, and bonded with him even more over the pandemic. I also know how hard it is to lose a pet, and I know it must be even harder over the pandemic when they can’t see friends and family, so I decided to draw Rugga as a way to to heal.
Sydney, 6th Grade
My name is Sydney and I am in the 6th grade. I really like to draw . I have a dog named Soren, a mini horse named Ruby and two guinea pigs named Pearl and Mango. I get my inspiration for my art from things I see. For example, when I was in the car getting a chicken with my mom I saw the sky and drew it because the fade of the sky looked good.
Sydney, 6th Grade
My inspiration for the piece “Vanny” came from my friend Loralye. Most of my art is created digitally. Sometimes I will draw a picture on paper or take a picture then transfer the outline to my I Pad and then finish creating it digitally. I also enjoy doing watercolors. I like to create watercolor silhouettes of my digital art and I also like to draw and paint art requests from friends.
Alivia, 6th Grade
Fall time tree leaves go, But in the spring they return, Deciduous tree.
Alivia, 6th Grade
Flowers in the field, Yellow willows blowing so, Are all on the girl.
Jackson, 6th Grade
I chose sidewalk chalk because it is a way to express myself and be outside and I am also able to share it with others. I chose the mandala because it can be anything that I want it to be even if someone else doesn’t like it, it can be whatever you want The shape of me is a chalk drawing expressing that there is so much more to ME that people cannot see.
Adeline, 6th Grade
This piece fits the theme of “Healing through art”, because a lot of people struggle with self love. I drew this and many other pieces like it that are just a bunch of people with different body types and skin colors, and I hope that in the future I will be able to help someone with loving themselves through art.
Adeline, 6th Grade
This piece of artwork to me is about pride. The pride flag is rainbow, and I thought I would do a drawing of a rainbow person to support anyone who is struggling accepting themselves or others.
Molly, 7th Grade
I drew a literal interpretation of mending the heart. The mandala designs represent a connection between mind, body and healing.
Reid, 6th Grade
Midnight Moonlight, for clarinet and trumpet. The artist speaks about learning the clarinet in the second video.
High School
Isobel, 10th grade
This piece, Clouds, was painted with acrylic paint on stretched canvas primed with gesso. I’m always inspired by the beautiful shapes and colors of clouds in the sky and how calming they are to look at. In a way, I wanted this painting to emit a sense of peace and tranquility, similar to what the subject of the girl may feel in this setting, and so my hope is others will also feel calm when they see this.
Isobel, 10th grade
Dusk at Lake Louise is painted with watercolors on watercolor paper with the use of some masking fluid. These are some of my favorite colors to use in art, and the beautiful sky as well as its intricate reflections in the water from the reference photo I used inspired me to paint this. I loved the way the still waters and the solitary feeling calmed me, so I wanted to capture that also so that others may feel the same.
Madison, 12th grade
My piece, Serenity, is designed using watercolors. Behind each piece of artwork I have an incredibly talented Aunt who is encouraging me to do my very best. This is in honor of Kim Dodd. My artwork will bring peace and a sense of longing as you gaze out into the setting sun. The unique design of the sky was made by the hand of God, and with each stroke of my brush I brought the beautiful picture to life.
Madison, 12th grade
My piece, Reflection, is designed using charcoal. The inspiration behind this piece of artwork is Pablo Picasso. Picasso’s self-portraits brought the individual to life on paper; he did not miss any detail too small or too big. My artwork, when looked at, will bring back a memory in time, where you were just on the cusp of going out into the world by yourself.
Thi, 11th grade
When I was told that we were going to be working with watercolor, it was a bit hard to think about which image I would choose to paint? But finally I choose Ha Long Bay as a model for my work because this place has a high concentration of biodiversity with typical ecosystems and thousands of extremely rich and diverse species of flora and fauna. This place is also associated with the country's heroic cultural and historical values. The name of Ha Long Bay can be understood as "The place where the dragon landed". According to local legend, in the early days, Ngoc Hoang sent his mother dragon to bring her herd of dragons down to help the Vietnamese people fight the enemy. The dragon spits fire and burns the ground, the dragon spits the pearl and drops the firewalls on the sea, the foundation must shatter ... To paint work that would make me proud, I failed once because I couldn't control the water color at that time. But I didn't give up and started over again, and very soon I was very happy that I was able to create this work.
Avery, 11th grade
This piece was made with watercolor from a picture that I took in my school’s parking lot on a rainy day in Portland, Oregon. I was inspired by Winslow Homer and his realism and Jennifer Ortega, a contemporary watercolor artist, as I was working on this piece. It shows a dramatic contrast between the brightness of the yellows and the dark violet. I worked hard to make sure the water drops were clear by lifting the color from the paper and used salt to get the texture of the cement. This piece was very personal as it exposed the idea to try something new and learn to see each and every detail in our beautiful world.
Avery, 11th grade
This piece is a charcoal drawing of a girl who is caught staring in the distance. After a month of doing figure studies this is the final piece that had emerged from it. I had focused on making this piece as realistic as possible, but also catch the glimmer in the model’s eyes and the beauty of the composition. This piece had previously won a gold key from Scholastic Art Awards in Oregon.
Thu, 12th grade
This is my first watercolor project of my life until now. I painted a sunset scene with a sailing boat and some purple clouds. I found a photo on Google because I have not had any opportunity to take a perfect photo of sunset. When I go on Google, honestly there are a lot of beautiful but I do not know why this is a most impressive photo for me. I really like the color of this. There are some blues mixed with some pink and purple and then it created a perfect scene with a pastel color. Moreover, the sailing boat that appeared in this picture made the viewer easier to imagine a sunset. I am so grateful for my teacher because she gave me an opportunity to work with watercolor. For me, this is the best project I have done. Although it made me angry, it made me worried a lot when I accidentally broke the paper, it made me be patient to wait until it dry but finally, the result I got was joy and happiness.
Nguyen, 10th grade
The transparent watercolor painting we did is a project that was inspired by Winslow Homer, an American landscape painter and print maker. Before we started our project, we met a well-known artist with a lot of experience in watercolor painting. She was sharing about her inspiration and her experiences, many gorgeous paintings and motivations. The picture I chose to draw was on the internet, but it was a great picture and challenged me, especially in the white wave section. It was a small part of the blue sea and salmon pink sand. The color of the sea gradually changed from really blue to dark blue mixed a little bit with green and violet. Furthermore, the sand was the combination of vermilion and carmine with a few drops of brown color. In my opinion, the picture showed me the beauty of an edge of the sea, even though the picture looks simple but contains specific beauty.
Nguyen, 10th grade
This piece is a charcoal portrait of my parents in our garden. I took my parents' picture on the first day of Tet holiday in Vietnam. This was a normal picture I took at home, but it brings for me family warmth when I’m living far from home. I was focused a lot in my parents section because doing charcoal for face very detail was really difficult and needed to be meticulous. I used black and white charcoal to create my parents, for me as well was a new and interesting challenge since I never draw any portrait especially by charcoal. I drew eyes by small black charcoal so I could do many details on eyes to make a soulful picture. However, the picture has somewhere shadow and shining, and I based those important things to draw dark and light areas. I chose my parents' picture to draw because I want to make them a small surprise but full of love.
Audrey, 12th grade
This is an ink and watercolor piece of a girl painting, us looking onto her from the eyes of the canvas. We can see her ‘Healing Through Art” as she holds her heart as she paints, and it begins to glow.
Sarah, 10th grade
This surrealist piece was inspired by a period of time when I was going through some art block. The monotone hallways are supposed to give a world devoid of liveliness feel. The limited uses of color, especially the melting rainbows, represent my artistic ideas. The melting rainbows in particular show my creativity sort of melting, not going away just melting, not gone but not useable either.
Zitong, 10th grade
I couldn’t think of a more appropriate title for my watercolor than “Hometown in the dark”, because when I see it, it reminds me of my hometown. My home also has such a rare sight, which leaves a thick and heavy color in my memory. It has seen me through my journey to a foreign land while I integrated into my new surroundings and brought me hope and comfort during pandemic through the dark.
Melinda, 9th grade
A young grizzly rests in the grass, soaking up the sun. This watercolor was inspired by a photo and memories of Yellowstone Park.
Melinda, 9th grade
This chimp seems to be posing. Graphite pencils were used for this shaded drawing.
Madeline, 12th grade
Your shimmering eyes reflect my undying affection. Your furry sheath intertwines with my spirited phalanges. Your silky smile stimulates my soul. With a gaze unable to part, we speak from the heart.
Madeline, 12th grade
Blanketed in blackness, light shines in its brightest glow. Silently slithering, shadows strike in a shady twilight. In a serpentining path of sorrow, life guides our luminous awakening.
Lark, 11th grade
I wanted to play on the concept of the corazón sagrado, a symbol of eternal love, as healing is almost always rooted in love. It is made to be put at the entrance of a house or room and reminds the viewer to reset and step into the new space with compassion. The process for creating this piece is very meditative due to the repetitive punching motion of tufting, allowing me to reflect.
Lark, 11th grade
Through this detailed collection of my outfits and memorable objects I am able to tell a story about who I am. Similar to journaling, this visual archive allows me to unpack and heal. Even though these objects are mundane, I think they have the ability to reveal so much about me and my lived experiences.
Beiyi, 11th grade
2/4 is a Minor spring festival so it gives me an idea to draw this. What she is wearing is called cheongsam, one of my favorite types of dresses. I choose to color it red because on special days like this most of the time red is the best wear. Red symbolizes luck, joy, and happiness.Red is the traditional color worn by Chinese brides, as it is believed to ward off evil.
Erich, 9th grade
My work portrays the light after the storm and is saying that through tough times you may be able to find peace and create something beautiful in the end after all of the suffering and hardship that you just went through.
Hannah, 9th grade
What a view is a watercolor painting that I created in art class. I chose this image as an inspiration because I have always loved the light scene in the movie Tangled, and the image reminded me of that particular scene.
Hannah, 9th grade
Healthy? is a colored pencil piece. I chose an avocado as my inspiration because I have always thought they looked interesting, and I have always liked them. I was extremely excited for this project because I have always enjoyed using colored pencil and exploring different color patterns.
Landon, 9th grade
My artwork is a painting of an evening sunset from a picture. I think it’s very simple but creative. I chose to do this painting mostly because of the color of the whole picture. I think its very basic but the warm colors make it pop. a yellow orange to red sky with a nice bright center of the sun looks amazing with the black shadowy landscape. I wasn’t a big fan of art before this but after this porject, it inspires me to explore and expirement more with watercolor. I used all different brushes to spread the paint evenly and neatly. If there was to much paint on a certain area or if it wast clumping I would use a tissue to blot and take out the extra paint and thats pretty much it.
Brenna, 12th grade
In 2016 I was diagnosed with a chronic eye disorder called visual snow. In this art piece it shows the two sides of me, the one that wants to fight it and the one that wants to succumb to it.
Brenna, 12th grade
My inspiration with acid cat was to show that you do not need to do drugs to "see the world." In this day and age teenagers take drug use of psychedelics so lightly without thinking of the long term affects. Acid cat is my way of seeing a different world without actually using drugs.