Name after name. Page after page. On and on it goes. Name, drumbeat. Name, drumbeat. It’s easy to overlook the fact that U.S. troops continue to fight (and die) in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Especially right now, with national headlines sharply focused on the political turmoil in Washington, D.C. How often do we stop to […]
Howard Leff
Tiny Art, Big Heart
Syria’s ongoing civil war has ignited one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time, with hundreds of thousands killed. The number of refugees is staggering. Countless Syrians are displacedโincluding over one million children. Amid all this, what can one women’s clothing store in Bend do about it? Plenty, it turns out. The effort begins […]
A 19th Century Day Trip
Forget haggling with your Congressman at the next town hall. The president’s coming to Central Oregon. No, not that president. This one’s even more famous. Like, $5 bill famous. That’s correct. President Abraham Lincoln’s scheduled to make an address Saturday during the first day of the Civil War Reenactment at The House On Metolius Meadow […]
Music in the Key of Kids
Parents know how hard it can be to get their children to study a musical instrument. Now try getting them to build one. The High Desert Museum recently joined forces with Sunriver’s Three Rivers Elementary School to do just that. And it worked, with fourth and fifth graders churning out finished products including drums, pan […]
Chill Pills
Discussions about Central Oregon’s reptiles don’t typically turn philosophical, but Bend artist Abney Wallace has just managed to negotiate that rather sharp curve. “It’s easy to see a snake or lizard and think snake or lizard,” says Wallace. “Really though, they are all so different. When we begin to notice the subtleties of the world […]
Fight Club (The Musical)
A game, a dance, a fight, a song, a way of life. Just some of the many ways to describe “capoeira,” a centuries-old African-Brazilian musical martial art form. Unlike other similar pursuits, this has the feel of a festive South American street partyโeven though we’re inside a North Bend karate studio. That’s where you’ll find […]
A Month to Remember
Seems like we’re always looking ahead in Central Oregon. The next festival. The next brewery. The next town hall even. But our focus is about to change. Time to look back, at least for a month. In May, several local groups, including the Deschutes County Historical Society, will mark National Historic Preservation Month by celebrating […]
Looks Like Teen Spirit
Walk into Red Chair Gallery this month and you’ll notice a rich, diverse tapestry of art. Nothing unusual there. But if you look closely at a section right up front, something unexpected happens. You begin to realize that this entire area’s dedicated to artists still in high school. It’s Red Chair’s sixth annual “Emerging Artists” […]
Puppet Master
Somewhere out there, if you look hard enough, you’ll find the exact spot where nature and art collide. It’s a powerful dynamic. It’s also where Bend artist Teafly Peterson thrives, working passionately on her future projects, in whatever shape, size and form those happen to take. “My two biggest influences are pop culture and nature,” […]
Fast Times at Redmond High
How long would it take you to write a seven-minute play? Remember, you can’t just throw down whatever ramblings wander into your head. This play needs a coherent beginning, middle and end, just like they taught you in English class. Seven minutes that make dramatic sense. You know the elements: Plot. Theme. Character. Imagine staring […]

