Gary Ewing was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. After graduating from high school he headed to New York City to attend The School of Visual Arts. He returned to Oregon to pursue a career in art.

Gary’s artwork included window displays at the Meier & Frank department store, commercial screen-printing, billboards, posters, art prints, and fabric prints. His work led to public and private commissions in glass, concrete, steel, sign painting, murals, and event promotions.

Multimedia Light Shows: Gary performed his first multimedia light show in San Francisco at the Avalon Ballroom in 1965 and later at other venues including the Straight Theater, Continental Ballroom, and Matrix. His performances in the northwest include the Crystal Ballroom, Paramount Theater, Civic Auditorium, Northwest Film Study Center, and Portland Art Museum (Especially for Children Exhibit). He also performed at the Memorial Coliseum with the Byrds and Jefferson Airplane and did nine consecutive Portland Mayor’s Ball shows in the Arena. The bands he performed with include: The Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Kaleidoscope, Blue Cheer, Fugs, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Steppenwolve, Paul Butterfield, Youngbloods, Charlatans, Iron Butterfly, Canned Heat, Donovan, Dinosaurs, Portland Zoo, Sand, Billy Rancher, and Crazy 8’s.

Eco-Dome-Housing design moved Gary in 1972 to create inflatable molds used in making the Skyline Studio Dome for Dextor Bacon. A Skyline Ridge model dome home, backed by the FHA as an experimental home, was created with architect Phil Thompson. The owner of the Skyline Ridge dome reported that a tree fell on his home in a storm, breaking the tree, but not the dome. Having recently constructed molds for 5, 10, and 15 meter domes, Gary is ready to create foam and concrete domes as energy efficient homes and disaster-resistant options to traditional construction.

Gary Ewing was invited to co-represent Portland at the West Coast 35-Year Reunion of “e.a.t” (experiments in art & technology) at the University of Washington in 2002. He spoke on how e.a.t. influenced his career. The Bellevue Art Museum, in conjunction with the e.a.t. reunion, invited Gary to do an artist-in-residence installation. This challenged him to step into the digital format and create a DVD lightshow performance installation. The Portland e.a.t. meetings introduced him to local engineers and the possibility of using inflatable domes in developing environments and multimedia performances using dancers, actors, musicians, and lighting.

Hot Glass work is one of Gary’s current interests. The process involves mold-making, printing, slumping, and fusing. His creations include single-piece glass lampshades, beads, custom dishes, awards, trophies, and a variety of custom hand made mirrors that include solar-collector-curved mirrors. Sculpting welded custom steel stands adds a gallery finish and a respect for the glass displays.

Gary Ewing           1942 - 2008