World of
Ralph
Collages & Prints
Public Projects
Schemers, Scammers, and Subverters Symposium (2019)
Schemers, Scammers, and Subverters Symposium was a free one-day symposium funded by the Precipice Grant, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and the Calligram Foundation, organized in collaboration with Roz Crews at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Portland. Designed as a send‑up of traditional business conferences, it explored how scheming and scammy behaviors shape life under capitalism through panel talks and lectures from diverse presenters. Topics ranged from higher education and museums to risk, astrology, and defensive housing, while the adjacent Totally Honest Barter Bazaar invited vendors and visitors to creatively negotiate value through experimental forms of exchange. The event served as a hub for conversation and subversive education, unpacking both the harms and potential uses of flimflammery in contemporary culture.
S.S.S.S event signage at the lobby of Crowne Plaza Hotel
Schemes, the American Dream, & the Kardashians slideshow presentation by Lauren Prado
Boned: Survival and the Sexual Revolution slideshow presentation by Philip King
How to Know When Your Horoscope is Being Real: an interview with Renee Sills
Museums, how they serve us and harm us with Libby Werbel and Roz Crews
Defensive Housing workshop with the Office of Neighborship with Eric Olson and Zeph Fishlyn
Real Fake Artistry slideshow presentation by manuel arturo abreu
Too Many Dogs at the Dog Park (2019)
Mural project commissioned by Facebook/Meta Open Arts for their San Francisco Campus. The project was installed on two facing walls covering a total of 45 x 15 feet of wallspace. The project was hand-painted on interlocking cnc-routed pieces of plywood.
A Long Line of Impartial Jurors (2018) A Long Line of Impartial Jurors" was a public art mural installed along a 200-foot temporary pedestrian walkway at the SW Main Street entrance to Portland's Hawthorne Bridge, in front of the new downtown courthouse during its construction. Lead artist Ralph Pugay collaborated with middle school leadership students from Dr. MLK Jr. School to create the work, which began by asking, “Who would you want as a juror if you were on trial?” Informed by a visit from Judge Nan Waller and student discussions about impartial judgment, Pugay and the students envisioned and drew a diverse collection of non-partial jurors. These characters were superimposed into a courtroom setting and displayed along the walkway until early 2020.
S.A.D. Park (2016) S.A.D. Park was a public art and wellness installation conceived by artists Ralph Pugay and Ariana Jacob and located in Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland, Oregon. Funded by the Houseguest Artist Residency, The Oregon Community Foundation, and the James F. & Marion L. Miller Foundation, it was designed as the world's first park dedicated to alleviating Seasonal Affective Disorder through a collective, civic‑minded approach. The space countered the privatized experience of mental health by integrating healing‑level lighting, botanical landscapes, sculptural elements, aromatherapy, and soundscapes, while offering group classes and activities. In reorienting a central public square into a supportive, destigmatizing environment, S.A.D. Park modeled how communities might address widespread mood disorders with shared, experiential solutions.