Salem Convention Center Acquires New Painting by Richard Thompson

The Salem Convention Center has acquired a significant painting by noted Oregon artist Richard Thompson through a unique partnership with the nonprofit Oregon Artists Series Foundation (OASF). Thompson’s “Home Pool”, a 78” x 108” oil on canvas work, has been installed on the west end of the Center’s first floor, where it can be seen during business hours. 

Since 2006, the Oregon Artists Series has facilitated the support of art throughout the Convention Center: the Mayor’s Invitational Art exhibitions and purchase of works from it; acquisitions and loans of exterior sculptures installed south of the building; and collaborations with the Hallie Ford Museum of Art which loans contemporary works from its collection at Willamette University.

The purchase of “Home Pool” was made possible by a 2019 kitchen remodel at the Convention Center which generated $9,000 for the City of Salem’s ½% for Art fund. Members of the Salem Public Art Commission and OASF formed an Art Selection Committee for the project. OASF subsequently contributed $6,000 in additional funds for a total art budget of $15,000. After reviewing existing artwork from 12 local/regional artists, the Committee selected Home Pool by Richard Thompson for direct purchase.  

Born in Dayton, Oregon where his family has a farm, Richard Thompson had a long and accomplished career as an artist and university art professor, most notably as Dean of the School of Art & Design at Alfred University in New York and Professor of Painting at the College of Fine Arts, University of Texas in Austin.  

He has exhibited nationally and internationally at institutions like the Groniger Museum, The Netherlands; National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; and the Museum of Fine Art, Houston, Texas. His work has been featured in the Governor's Office in the Oregon State Capitol and in major exhibitions including the Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, in both 1975 and 1988. In Oregon, his works are in the collections of the Portland Art Museum, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (Eugene), Hallie Ford Museum of Art (Salem) and the University of Portland, among many others.