SCAPPOOSE, Ore. — One of the most famous and sought after live entertainment and creative directors in the past three decades is based in Scappoose, Oregon. Michael Curry founder of Michael Curry Designs started his career as a sculptor and painter in Portland, but things changed.
"Simple trajectory. I wanted to be Picasso, and I moved to New York City and found theater; theater found me somehow," Curry said. "I've been fortunate to be able to focus on characters and these unique puppets, costumes, visual effects that focus on beauty and sculptural excellence."
Curry is an award-winning visual concept designer whose puppetry has changed the entertainment world.
"Puppetry is your closest chance of recreating computer generated effects. The fantasy worlds that we that today's cinema has, if you're going to interpret those in a live performance, puppetry is a very good solution for it," he said.
It's likely you have seen his iconic, from designing the puppets and character effects in The Lion King, to Olympic ceremonies, Las Vegas shows and Super Bowl halftime shows.
"The most widely viewed one was the Katy Perry lion from the Super Bowl, and that was created here in Scappoose," he said.
For Curry, all of his projects are important, but his latest one is personal. It's the redesign he's leasing for the Keller Auditorium. His goal is to make it the centerpiece of the neighborhood,
"It was built for the purpose of letting live entertainment and music have its best version of itself, you know, and so there's nothing else quite compare with it, and it's been there for 140 years," Curry said.
His vision for the Keller and for the city will take center stage there, literally.
"TEDx approached me and had a very interesting proposition. Instead of talking about my process and my creativity, we'll talk about how the creative community can have a great benefit on the civic community," Curry said.
He will lay it all out at TEDxPortland this Saturday inside the Keller.
"I'm going to use the idea, the call to action for creatives to start really imagining that they could have a great deal to do with the success and the aspirational qualities of a city," Curry said.
VIDEO PLAYLIST: TEDxPortland