Over 20 years ago, a handful of local metal artists formed a guild in order to give themselves a formal way to meet and swap information. “The group began as a handful of jewelers who found they spent a fair amount of time sharing a beer, trading vendor, tools and technique information. In 1999 this […]
Culture Features
Posted inCulture
Farthest Read: Reading the Source, from Kuwait
One former Bend resident tunes in on the regular from his National Guard posting in the Middle East
Ever wonder how far the Source Weekly readership has traveled? As a freelance writer for the Source, I silently inquire to myself about this often—and I have one fun data point to reference: former Bend resident and colleague, Christopher Browning. Our paths crossed a decade ago for several years, after which Browning joined the military […]
Posted inCulture
Awakening Your Inner Hero
Bike Ride Wisdom: A crash. A change of plans. Life at its best.
A few weeks ago, I drove west on the Cascade Lakes Highway toward Mt. Bachelor to scout out some mountain bike trails. Something new would be great and there are uncountable beautiful places to bike when you are fortunate enough to live in or visit Central Oregon. My new biking partner is Natalie, our cool, athletic, […]
Posted inCulture
BIPOC Art Show Seeks to Challenge Bend’s Racial Narrative
COBIPOC partners with Scalehouse for show opening on First Friday
Hang around Bend long enough and you’re sure to see it: the bumper sticker that reads, “Be Nice You’re in Bend.” While benign enough on its face, at least one group of local creators and artists of color see it as a sign of exclusion and supporting the status quo—one in which Bend maintains the […]
Posted inCulture
Queens of the COVID Age
Local drag queens have big plans for the future—including a birthday bash,
and a new venue located right inside a plant shop
Drag brunch, drag bingo, drag hiking, drag birthdays… drag house plant workshops? Those who haven’t yet ventured out lately may not have seen all the sweet (& salty) events that local queens have been busily propagating in Central Oregon. These events are selling out in days, if not hours, and are among the hottest (sometimes […]
Posted inCulture
Lost Your Marbles?
La Pine glass artist Chris Davis will help you find them
Be prepared, for in the search you may discover that it’s about much more than just marbles. In April, glass artist Chris Davis hid 10 marbles outdoors around the La Pine area, posted a few picture clues on the What’s Really Happening in La Pine Facebook group page and sat back to see what would […]
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Wasted in Bend: Single-Use Face Masks
Protection from COVID creates new source of microplastics
Editor’s note: Wasted in Bend was a series we rolled out in the year before the pandemic, highlighting the waste stream and how locals can make choices to improve it. The intermittent series returns this week with a look at a timely pandemic-related waste problem. The more life returns to a post-pandemic version of normal, […]
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The Third Act
Order and Counter-Order
Decades ago, my father, a semanticist, published a book about dualism in Western culture titled Order and Counter Order. It is most definitely not what anyone would call light reading. I refer to it only because the title was invoked at my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. As was the tradition, friends and family gathered and […]
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Stop, Collaborate and Listen
Open Space Event Studios makes room for art
When 2nd Street Theater closed its doors shortly before Platypus Pub was torn down to make room for another Starbucks, it felt like that little burgeoning Bend Central District was dismantled before it really lived up to its full potential. With Humm Kombucha there and the astoundingly delicious Manzanita Grill, the area has enough touchstones […]
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Awakening Your Inner Hero
Bananas in Bend
Hmmm. Think about it for a second. Where do bananas come from? Almost none of them come from our own country. Ninety-four percent come from Central America, which is approximately 4,000 miles south of Bend. Every grocery store in Bend will tell you that bananas are one of the best-selling items in the entire store. […]
