Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon Portland Community College

Birgitte’s Ladder by Mark Andres

  • Title: Birgitte’s Ladder
  • Artist: Mark Andres
  • Medium: Acrylic on canvas
  • Size: 30"h x 40"w
  • Donor: On loan from artist
  • Campus: Rock Creek
  • Location: 9/1 Administration entry rm 115

This painting was made on the SE Bybee bridge in Portland where a golf club and the train yard are strange bedfellows.  The artist set up his easel in traffic and wind in an effort to convey a sense of distance and nearness.  The red ladder was left by PGE workers, and gave the composition a firm anchor as railway and road fan away in opposite directions.  The painting was named after the then Dean of Instruction at Rock Creek Campus, Birgitte R., who wanted to take the painting with her when she left.