Athanasios (Tom) Efthimiou Stefopoulos was a factory worker, railroad man, commercial artist, and a champion penman. Art was his first love, but pursuing this was difficult for a young immigrant in an adopted country where he did not even speak the language. In 1945, he was employed by the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railroad to work as a crossing watchman under the Lovejoy Ramp of the Broadway Bridge in Portland, Oregon. It was here that the artist created the iconic “Lovejoy Columns.”
This exhibition considers the range of Stefopoulos’s art, from pen drawings to the murals that graced the Lovejoy Columns. Despite a life that was characterized by movement and synthesis, the Lovejoy Columns represent a sense of belonging to a specific place — in this case, to Oregon. Stefopoulos’s art gives insight into how the artist envisioned himself in this new home.
This exhibit by the Hellenic American Cultural Center and Museum runs May 5, 2026, through June 4, 2026, and was awarded a sponsorship by the Oregon State Capitol Foundation.
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