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Collins Gallery

Collins Gallery Collins Gallery

The Collins Gallery on Central Library's third floor hosts regular educational and artistic exhibits. The gallery is open the same hours as Central Library, and admission is free.

If you or your organization are interested in exhibiting in the Collins Gallery please review the exhibits policy and complete an application.

Location & hours

Featured exhibitions

Capturing China, 1913-1929: Photographs, Films, and Letters of American Diplomat John Van Antwerp MacMurray

February 19–April 2

After over 2,000 years of Imperial rule and the fall of the Qing dynasty, China became a Republic in 1911. This was followed by the Warlord years, of which little has been reported. As American Minister to China during this time, John Van Antwerp MacMurray was an inside player in a pivotal position of great responsibility during the turmoil of China’s change from ancient empire to modern state.

Drawing from more than 1,600 photographs taken by MacMurray in rural China between 1913 and 1917 and the letters and artifacts of his official life in China archived at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library at Princeton University, this exhibit provides a unique look at this period of China’s history.

The photos express MacMurray's deep affection for and interest in China. Many are at once works of art as well as portraits of the country as it neared the end of an empire. They include portraits of diplomats, Chinese officials and warlords; scenes of Peking's (Beijing's) gates, walls, Forbidden City, Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven; and images of villages, peasants farming and countryside temples in the Western Hills.

Opening Reception

Tuesday, February 23, 5:30–7 p.m.
Central Library, Collins Gallery

Mrs. Lois Starkey, daughter of John Van Antwerp MacMurray, will give a short talk about her experiences of living in China during her father’s tenure.

This exhibit is made possible by Princeton University’s Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, the MacMurray and Starkey families, TsaiComms LLC and Northwest China Council.

 

Loyd Haberly (1896-1981): Oregon Poet, Printer and Bookbinder

April 9–May 18

Raised in rural Oregon, Loyd Haberly was a Reed College graduate and a Rhodes Scholar who, while in England, gained a strong appreciation for the Arts & Crafts movement. In the tradition of William Morris’s famous Kelmscott Press, he founded the Seven Acres Press, a small private press in England where he printed 16 books, most authored by himself. He later was hired for the position of controller at the esteemed Gregynog Press in Wales, where four more books were produced under his control. Among them was Eros and Psyche, which used the illustrations created by artist Edward Burne-Jones for Morris. Haberly printed one more title in England before he returned to the United States, where he printed another 13 books from 1940 to 1976.

The work of Loyd Haberly as a poet, artist — he created the many brightly colored wood-cuts that adorn his books — printer and binder, caught the attention of Portland book collector Brian Booth. Over the years, Booth has been generously donating his Haberly collection to the John Wilson Special Collections at Multnomah County Library. This exhibition, the first on Haberly in more than a decade, features all of these items along with materials borrowed from other institutions and private collections.

Opening Reception

Tuesday, April 13, 5:30–7:30 p.m.

Please join us for opening remarks by exhibition curator Jim Carmin and book collector Brian Booth.