February 2026 - Jack Perry

Jack Perry’s Redmond home and studio have paintings, posters, and abstract sculptures on every wall. At 76, Jack’s artistic vision has never wavered, born not of trends but out of a lifetime of grit, love, and an abiding bond with the land that raised him.

That bond began in Walla Walla, Washington, where, as a child, Jack not only fell in love with the horizon-wide beauty of the wheatfields but also had a life-altering revelation. Leafing through an encyclopedia in grade school, he happened upon Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic house Fallingwater. “Seeing the lines, the architecture--something rose up in me, and I knew I wanted to create.”

Jack worked on wheat farms in the Palouse region near Pullman, Washington, on and off in his twenties. “I gained a real sense of the earth, an appreciation for old farms and outbuildings, rusted grain elevators. I loved how they all told stories about the past. The Columbia and Snake Rivers seemed to dance together, carving their routes through the Palouse. Fertile hills and rim rocks reached up to the clouds, reflecting in the rivers. Those landscapes speak through my work.”

His connection to the landscape would ground Jack’s artistic practice even as he dropped out of high school in 1967 to study under artist John Ford before returning to earn his diploma in 1968. Upon graduation, he joined the Army and deployed to Vietnam. “Life has never been a straight road, but I always had this drive—I have to create art!” he says.

After returning from Vietnam, Jack met his wife, Sharon, and began a family. Art remained his passion. He earned a B.A. from Washington State University and later an M.F.A. in Sculpture from the University of Oregon as a graduate teaching fellow, where he studied under sculptors Paul Buckner and Jan Zack.

If the Palouse was Jack’s muse, his method was shaped by years of mastering a variety of mediums—wood, glass, metals, paint, and handmade wood-pulp paper. “I incorporate those subtle, earthly tones—the gold of wheatfields at dusk, the bronze of old farm tools—that echo life on the farms,” he explains.

Jack’s work often juxtaposes natural and human-made patterns etched into the landscape. One striking sculpture, “Palouse Furrows,” features rows of rippling wood-paper that mimic the rhythmic sweep of wheatfields. “Farms have lines, old trees on the hills, and cliffs in the morning glow. That’s why I like to use copper, gold, bronze, and make my own paper out of wood pulp to capture those colors.” Another, “Horse Heaven Hills,” combines plaster, canvas, and wood to celebrate the region’s golden hills, darting magpies, and the water that carves into and sustains the land.

“Magpies are a constant in my work. When I worked in the fields, they’d flit around me. They were my companions, which is why they often appear in my work.” Jack’s sculptures map an abstract, bird’s-eye relationship with the natural world, often inspired by specific coordinates—like 46°N latitude, 117°W longitude—the location of Walla Walla. “Those markers are my anchoring point,” he says, smiling.

In 1978, co-owners Jack and Val Sweeney operated the Oak House Gallery in Portland. The gallery became a vanguard of multidisciplinary art, showcasing pieces he and Val created, ranging from glasswork to metal sculpture and elaborate light fixtures. Their craftsmanship caught the eye of corporate clients, including Red Lion Hotels, which commissioned large-scale chandeliers, sconces, and custom art for their lobbies. For six years, the gallery thrived until the economic slump of 1984 forced its closure. “I took a steady job to pay the bills,” Jack says of his transition to working for the City of Milwaukie. “But I never stopped creating. I had to keep going.”

Today, among the various projects in Jack’s studio are several abstract sculptural maquettes on his worktable that he would love to see be made life-size or larger if a commission came along. “I’m devoting the rest of my life to my vision because it’s my spirit. I have no choice.”

Dry Canyon Arts Association is proud to present Jack Perry’s work as the Featured Artist during February at the Dry Canyon Community Art Center. The public is invited to attend a reception in his honor at the Art Center on First Friday, February 6, 2026 from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm.