Obituaries

’50

George Johanson BFA’50
Nov. 1, 1928 – Oct. 14, 2022

George Johanson was born in Seattle in 1928 and came to Portland at age 17 to attend the Portland Art Museum School (now PNCA). George returned to the Portland Art Museum School serving as faculty in Painting and Printmaking from 1955–1980. He remained a strong community supporter of PNCA, including support for student scholarships for painting and drawing.

’59

Lee Kelly BFA’59
1932 – Mar. 28, 2022

Born in 1932 in McCall, Idaho, Lee graduated from the Museum Art School at the Portland Art Museum (now known as PNCA) in 1959. His long and prolific career has resulted in a significant body of work which can be seen in public and private collections throughout the country, including the Portland Art Museum, Stanford University, New Orleans Art Museum, Seattle Art Museum, and the city of Sapporo, Japan. Lee was well known for his monumental public sculptures throughout Oregon and the surrounding region – including the recently installed piece “Gateway” on the North Lawn of Willamette’s Salem campus.

’81

Lena McGrath Welker BFA’81
Jun. 1, 1950 – Mar. 6, 2019

Lena Welker was born in Ohio. Lena had a lifelong fascination with the natural world, and she experienced a profound need to make art and to connect with others through art as a maker and an observer. She studied at Reed College and earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the Museum Art School. Her work has been shown in galleries, museums, universities, and public spaces across the nation as well as internationally along with being the recipient of many honors, fellowships, and prizes, including the Pollock-Krasner Award. Lena was preceded in death by her parents, her twin brother Jeff, her parents-in-law Duane “Red” and Maryann, and her stepbrother Jimmy. She is survived by her husband Ted Welker, sons Gareth and Ryen.

’82

Mark Gustafson

Guillermo del Toro Honors Oscar Winner Mark Gustafson, Who Co-Directed Pinocchio, After His Death at 64 Mark Gustafson won an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy, among other accolades, over his four decades in the animation industry Mark Gustafson, a longtime Hollywood director who won an Academy Award in March 2023 for co-directing Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, has died. He was 64.

Del Toro, 59, announced Gustafson's death in a post he shared on X Friday, stating that Gustafson died Thursday.

In del Toro's post, the filmmaker shared a photo of himself and Gustafson taken on the set of the stop-motion animated Pinocchio film.

"I admired Mark Gustafson, even before I met him. A pillar of stop motion animation- a true artist," he wrote in the post. "A compassionate, sensitive and mordantly witty man. A Legend- and a friend that inspired and gave hope to all around him. He passed away yesterday. Today we honor and miss him."

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio won Best Animated Film at last year's 95th Oscars ceremony. It also won best animated film at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards, among other accolades. In del Toro's social media post announcing Gustafson's death, the filmmaker wrote that Gustafson "leaves behind a Titanic legacy of animation that goes back to the very origins of Claymation and that shaped the career and craft of countless animators."

"They say- 'Never meet your heroes...' I disagree. You cannot be disappointed by someone being human... We all are," del Toro wrote. "Burning the midnight oil during postproduction, or doing daily animation turnovers via Zoom during COVID or being trapped in an elevator in a Cinema in London..."

"I am as glad to have met Mark, the human as I was honored to have met the artist. As I said, I admired him before I met him," del Toro added. "I loved having had the chance to share time and space with him during the highs and the lows. Always and forever."

Gustafson was a native of Portland, Ore., as The Oregonian noted in an obituary published Friday. He started his career in animation working in claymation for Will Vinton Studios in Portland for the California Raisins brand, as multiple outlets reported. His first film credits came as part of the claymation teams for 1985's The Adventures of Mark Twain and Return to Oz, kicking off a career that lasted more than 30 years.

Prior to Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio, Gustafson worked as the animation director on Wes Anderson's 2009 film Fantastic Mr. Fox. He received four Emmy Award nominations over the course of his career and won at that awards ceremony in 1992 for the television special Claymation Easter, in the outstanding animated program (for programming one hour or less) category.

"It's so good to know that this art form we love so much, stop-motion, is very much alive and well," Gustafson said at the Oscars last year ceremony following Pinocchio's win. He also took a moment to thank his wife, Jennifer, during his short speech.

’96

Mark Deleon Keene BFA'96
Feb. 23, 1970 - Aug. 22, 2022

Mark was born in Seward, Alaska and moved to Portland to pursue an art degree at Pacific Northwest College of Art. He had a gift for leadership, teaching, languages, writing, art, and humor. He taught in Portland, then spent 10 years teaching English in Japan where he also began perfecting the art of brewing. Mark is survived by the two loves of his life: wife, Atsuko Keene and daughter, Denise Keene. He is also survived by his parents: father, Gerald Keene, mother and step-father, Marlene Thiel Pearson and Roger Pearson; brothers: Nathan Keene (Astrid Persans), John Monsen-Keene (Berit); sisters: Erin Micciche (Peter), Kathryn Pearson (James Ogden); extended family members, family in Japan, and many friends.

’24

Trevor Mejia BA'24
Mar. 5, 1998 - Sep. 2, 2022

Trevor was born March 5, 1998 in Thousand Oaks, California. He graduated with his Associates Degree from Lane Community College in Eugene in 2021 and was in his last year of college at Willamette University Pacific Northwest College of the Arts in Portland when he received his cancer diagnosis. A gifted artist, he aspired to become an animator; his backup plan was teaching. Trevor leaves behind his bereaved parents, Sugar and George and grandparents Kit Schneider, Steve Kane and Rachel Aldrich; his sister, Amelia, and love-brothers Ilanga and Luke, and girlfriend Tassjia Steeves. He also leaves his loving Aunt Candace, Uncle DavidPaul, cousin Hannah, Uncle Johnny and Aunt Lynn, as well as adopted-at-birth aunts, uncles and cousins, the Hall's, Klone's and Downing's and many dear friends that he considered family.