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CORVALLIS, Ore. - Drawn to Murals, an exhibit of photographs of murals painted by artist Eileen Hinckle, opens on Monday, Sept. 19, in The Little Gallery at Oregon State University.

An Oregon native, Hinckle graduated from Marist High School in Eugene in 2008 and attended Oregon State University's JumpstART pre-college art camp during her junior year. She later pursued a bachelor's degree in psychology from Northwestern University in Illinois. While working on her bachelor's degree, Hinckle had the opportunity to live abroad in Lima, Peru, an experience that inspired her artistic style. 

"While immersed in a culture vastly different from my own, I became highly aware of my relationship with my surroundings," Hinckle said. "I made the decision to focus my energy and efforts in developing my art as a means of exploring and bridging the space between cultures."

Traveling with nothing more than a sketchbook and paintbrushes, Hinckle was drawn to murals as an inspiring and dynamic form of public art that can reach people during moments in their everyday lives. Initially she used brushes and latex house paint, but she has since started incorporating paint rollers and spray paint into her work. She is particularly attracted to public spaces such as transit, schools, and parks -  often incorporating local subjects into her murals along with other elements that are left open to interpretation. 

Hinckle has painted collaboratively with Peruvian, Argentinian, Mexican and American people, sometimes exchanging her artwork for accommodations, food and friendship, and learning something new from each experience. She describes her work as an "exploration of the convergence of personal experience with public space; a reflection on the complex web of geography, people and cultures that inhabit a specific place at a given time."

The Little Gallery is managed by World Languages and Cultures in the College of Liberal Arts. It is located in 210 Kidder Hall, 2000 S.W. Campus Way on the Corvallis campus. 

The gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, closing over the noon hour for lunch. Admission is free. The Hinckle exhibit runs through Nov. 4.