Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon Portland Community College

Paloma by Manuel Izquierdo

  • Title: Paloma
  • Artist: Manuel Izquierdo
  • Medium: Welded steel
  • Size: 64"h x 32"w
  • Added to collection: 2008
  • Donor: Donated by the Manuel Izquierdo Trust through Bill Rhoades
  • Campus: Rock Creek
  • Location: B3/1 Mall area

When Manuel Izquierdo's Paloma arrived at Rock Creek in the autumn of 2008, her steel body was dented and her shiny coat faded and roughened by the weather. Restoring the piece to its gleaming, colorful state was a fascinating PCC collaboration. Over several months, students and faculty in Rock Creek's Art, Auto Collision, Aviation, and Welding Departments came together to repair Paloma's body, strip down the old paint, stabilize the surface and, working with templates and color samples, bring it back to its original state. Izquierdo, who died in 2009, was born in Madrid and arrived in Portland as a young refugee of the Spanish Civil War. He attended the Museum Art School (now the Pacific Northwest College of Art) and later taught there for many years. He also studied with Frederic Littman, whose sculptures can be found in the Rock Creek collection.