We take a lot of pride in our growing collection of public art pieces here in the Old Mill District.

From Dennis McGregor’s beautiful and whimsical “You Stole My Name” murals to Yuya Negishi’s crazy fun dragon wall and our collection of Tin Pan Alley pieces, our creative juices are charged every day we see stroll past our array of public art along the Deschutes River.

Public art has been part of the Old Mill District’s DNA since the first shops and restaurants opened in 2001. That same year, sculpture Roger Fox installed “No Caulks Allowed,” a 30-foot high piece created out of salvaged parts from an old Brooks-Scanlon bandsaw, in the heart of the Old Mill District.

“The large steel wheels in this sculpture once ran the bandsaw or head rig in the Brooks-Scanlon Lumber Mill, formerly on this site,” the plaque in front of the sculpture reads. “Cut marks in the wheels show where the saw blade broke and cut into the steel.”

The title of Fox’s pieces refers to the loggers who worked at the Brooks-Scanlon and Shevlin-Hixon mills. They once wore spiked soled boots called ‘caulks’ or ‘corks’, and in an effort to keep their floors intact. restaurants, taverns and retailers throughout Bend posted ‘No Caulks Allowed’ signs on their front doors.