Oregon Public Broadcasting

Portland gallery owner and artist Laura Russo has died after struggling with cancer. She was 66 years old.  Amelia Templeton reports.

Though Laura Russo had cancer her family says her death came more suddenly than expected. 

A great loss to Portland’s art scene By KC Cowan I was so saddened to hear the news today of the passing of gallery owner Laura Russo. She died February 11th in hospice care, following a battle with cancer....The Artful Blogger

She was born in Waterbury Connecticut in 1943. She moved to Portland to live with her aunt and uncle, both influential Portland painters.

Laura Russo studied painting at the Museum Art School, now the Pacific Northwest College of Art. In 1986, she opened the Laura Russo gallery, which she used to promote Northwest artists. 

The Director of the gallery, Martha Lee, says Russo was deeply committed to the artists she worked with, and many of them have been with the gallery since it opened.

Martha Lee: "She had a real passion for what she was doing and really believed in the work of the artists she represented."

Russo was also known as a champion of regional art history and her gallery represents the estates of many prominent Northwest artists.

Russo’s family says the gallery will remain open under Lee’s direction.