Special Art Celebrates the Crown of Rosaria

In honor of the centennial of the Crown of Rosaria, the Portland Rose Festival will unveil a commissioned portrait by Mayfair The Artist, Thursday, April 28, 2:30 p.m., at Oregon Society of Artists, 2185 SW Park Place.

The festival will also introduce its latest artwork for the 2022 Rose Festival Oak Knoll official wine by artist Kenneth Poirier. 

The Crown of Rosaria, a gift from the Business and Professional Women's Club of Portland was designed in 1922 by Charles M. Pennell Jr. and made by Jaeger Brothers. The gift was made possible by the sale of tiny pink rosebuds, replicas of the Caroline Testout Rose sold throughout Portland.

The frame is made of 14-carat gold filigree, featuring a blue zircon at its tip, seven pigeon-blood rubies and 650 white sapphires. The 2021 and current Rose Festival Queen, Lili Rosebrook stepped into history when the crown was placed on her head 32 years after her mother, Deanna Connell donned the same crown while representing St. Mary's Academy in 1989.

The first queen to wear the crown in 1922 was Harriett Griffith, The one hundredth queen to wear it will be chosen on Friday, June 10.

Meet the artist

Omar “Mayfair” Pleitez is a Southern California native who moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2011. Originally a graffiti artist, Mayfair made the transition into using other mediums onto canvas in 2004. With street art being in his roots, he incorporates the graffiti and hip hop culture into his canvases. Mayfair is also right at home with fine art, and models his technique and inspirations from the great masters.  After transitioning to using mainly oils on canvas, Mayfair has evolved into interchanging his upbringing of graffiti into the fine art arena. Since he moved to the Pacific Northwest, Mayfair has been hard at work making a name for himself in the local art scene.