The 10,000-square-foot building at 175 NE Greenwood Ave. in Bend that once housed City Thrift will be transformed into The Open Arts Center. The nonprofit is the vision of local artists Maija Kellner-Rode and Claire Brislin who’ve been planning it for two years. The unique concept will operate as a free creative community center for teenagers (ages 12-18) with a separate fee-based space for adult artists.
“The goal is to offer free space where they (teens) can, first and foremost, show up and be cared for, be seen and have a space where they really have a sense of ownership,” Kellner-Rode told the Source. The hope is that adult artists will become mentors and even allow teens with specific interests to become an apprentice.
Kellner-Rode and Brislin both have experience working with children. Brislin has spent years teaching middle and high school English and creative writing across the county and tutors youth. She is also a performer and dancer. Kellner-Rode has mentored underserved youth in Salem, Portland and the Grande Ronde Reservation. She’s also taught art at Pilot Butte Middle School, coached basketball and mentored teens one-on-one. As an artist, Kellner-Rode owns a paper goods/design company and is a fine art painter.
“We’ll be building out 17 working artist studios. We’ll also have a gallery and classroom attached to that space where we’ll be orienting towards adult artists,” Kellner-Rode explains. “There’ll be different memberships that people can sign up for. You can drop in for a day pass or you can rent a locked storage unit or have an open storage unit.” She’s hoping that some artists will become longtime members, going through a trauma informed training, a background check and volunteer once a month in the teen program. The center will also have a rotating artist in residency program for those outside the area who can offer a different point of view or cultural experience.
“We’re really hoping to create this ecosystem where adults and teens are creating an inner, more intergenerational learning model… I feel like my work has been leading me to this, really, my whole life. Working with teens, offering space for people to feel like they have a sense of community, a sense of belonging, where they can really get to know themselves and their community through the creative arts. It has always been a real passion to me.”
Teens will have the opportunity to be ambassadors to inform other teens about the space as well as participate on a youth board of directors. Kellner-Rode believes the center will fill a gap for teenagers. “There just isn’t really a space like that here where teens have a place where they can go be. Where they’re not in an adult space.” She says they’re still working out details, but the idea is for teens to drop in between noon and 6pm once the center opens, possibly by mid-October.
She hopes adults will also find it a space where they can explore, play, make mistakes and learn from them through a creative process. “I think it is such a tool for healing, for understanding the self,” Kellner-Rode says. “I think creativity can be…a very inherent therapeutic tool.”
The center will host future First Fridays and other events to attract the public in to view and purchase art. They’ll have an informational art table at Munch and Music on July 24 and will be at the Saturday market in Northwest Crossing on Aug. 2.
Kellner-Rode also hopes the public will stop by their new building during an open house on July 29. “We want this to be an event where we can give you a snapshot of what is to come. We’ll have little vignettes in each space to show you how this space will be utilized, whether it’s people dancing or painting or music making… If you want to see something happen in this space, you can express your interest and tell us what you’re wanting to see as well,” Kellner-Rode says. It’s also a fundraiser with opportunities to help purchase furniture and supplies. “If there are investors who are interested in naming rights, people will be able to name the gallery, dance hall, music room, artist residencies and different classrooms.” She says revenue to operate the Open Art Center will come from a mix of donations, fees, grants, fundraisers and renting the space out to the public.
This article appears in Source Weekly July 24, 2025.
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