A beautiful book about food, justice, and the power of choice, First Meal tells the stories of twenty-five wrongfully convicted people through art and reporting. Corvallis artist Julie Green died in 2021 as work on the book was nearing completion. Join their co-author Kirk Johnson, a retired national correspondent for the New York Times, and Theo Downes-Le Guin, Julie’s gallerist and friend, for a conversation about First Meal and Julie’s work and legacy.

Julie Green (1961-2021) was a professor of art at Oregon State University. Their work has been featured in thirty-two exhibitions in the United States and abroad, and in publications such as the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Ceramic Monthly, and Gastronomica.

Kirk Johnson worked at the New York Times for 38 years, including 15 years as a national correspondent covering the American West. In 2001, he was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for the Times’ multi-part series, “How Race is Lived in America.”

Theo Downes-Le Guin is the literary executor for author Ursula K. Le Guin and heads the Ursula K. Le Guin Foundation. Through programs such as an annual prize for fiction, the Foundation continues Le Guin’s legacy of supporting writers and readers of science fiction, fantasy and literary fiction and poetry. Downes-Le Guin founded a contemporary art gallery in Portland, Oregon, curating more than 80 exhibitions in the gallery, art fairs, museums, and online.

Two of Julie Green’s pieces, including the cover art for First Meal, are on permanent display at Fairbanks Gallery on the Oregon State University Campus. Please visit their website or contact them directly about hours and parking.

This lecture will be presented at the Corvallis Museum. Please email the Curator of Education at azia@bentoncountymuseums.org to reserve a limited quantity assistive listening device.