Bend’s cultural offerings shine during the waning days of spring

Little-known secret, Bend’s full of just as many great cultural offerings as their are breweries and flowly singletrack mountain bike trails. Check out some of these exhibits this spring and summer.

TUMALO ART CO.

Folding Visions: Past/Present/Future by Dorothy Freudenberg
Through June 30

Throughout her art career, Dorothy has experimented with various kinds of media to print her stunning digitally composed images. For this show she is printing on metal. Metal prints have intense color as light reflects back to the viewer, giving great saturation and dimensionality to the image. Combined with long archival life and the ability to dispense with glass, these pieces seem to glow from within.

At the same time she is presenting some very new pieces in a category called, appropriately, Phoneography. Using her phone as a source of inspiration, she is able to create in a very fluid, spontaneous manner, producing exciting new ideas and images in a smaller format, and bringing new concepts to the blended medium of photography and digital painting.
www.tumaloartco.com

DESCHUTES HISTORICAL MUSEUM

World War I exhibit
Through the summer
A stirring exhibit complete with uniforms, weapons, news clippings and interpretive panels, the Deschutes Historical Museum’s exhibit helps visitors understand Central Oregon’s role in “The Great War,” as well as that of the United States as a whole.

Ray Eyerly art retrospective
Through June 30
The first artist ever honored by a resolution in the joint houses of the Oregon legislature, Eyerly brilliantly captured the traditions of the American West with his fine-line pen-and-ink portraits of the peoples from the Warm Springs, Klamath and Navajo tribes. A longtime Sisters resident, Eyerly, a World War I veteran, passed away in 1980 at the age of 85. His reputation as an artist has only grown since, and the museum is ecstatic to have a collection of his work on display.
www.deschuteshistory.org

BEND ART CENTER

Small Prints ‘18
June 1 – July 26

Get ready for Bend Art Center’s second biennial Small Prints exhibition! Small prints from all over the country will be juried by Jill AnnieMargaret, head of printmaking at Boise State University. In addition to awarding materials prizes for honorable mentions, the juror will select a Best in Show winner to receive a two-week artist residency at Playa at Summer Lake.
www.bendartcenter.org

HIGH DESERT MUSEUM

Kids Curate
Through June 3

Fifth-grade students from Crooked River Elementary worked closely with the Bureau of Land Management and the High Desert Museum over a full school year to create permanent interpretive panels that will be placed along the Wild and Scenic portion of the Lower Crooked River. The panels, temporarily on exhibit at the Museum, describe the wildlife and cultural history of the Crooked River Canyon. The students combined science and art while working with museum curators.
www.highdesertmuseum.org

Ascent: Climbing Explored
Through Sept. 3

Explore the dynamic history, evolution and culture of climbing and mountaineering in the West in a new exhibit curated by museum staff. The exhibit tells how these adventure sports originated as means of scientific exploration and grew into something men and women did for the sheer joy of it, and how technical advances pushed the sports to new heights. Hands-on interactive activities for kids include a climbing wall inside the exhibit and an opportunity to handle climbing gear. The geology of the High Desert that draws climbers to the region will be explored and art representing the beauty of climbing destinations will be displayed.
www.highdesertmuseum.org/ascent

Innovation Lab: Design Inspired by Nature
Through July 15

Learn how designers, engineers and architects are taking a page out of nature’s playbook and create some designs of your own in this family-friendly exhibition.
Biomimicry – from bios, meaning “life,” and mimesis, meaning “to imitate” – is the practice of looking to and emulating nature for solutions to human problems. Bird wings, beehives and prairie ecosystems have inspired designs that enable faster travel, safer buildings and more sustainable farming practices, respectively. While biomimicry is not a novel idea, modern science and technology is expanding the types of materials, products and systems that are possible.
Innovation Lab: Design Inspired by Nature presents an exciting opportunity to explore real-world examples of biomimicry and develop nature-inspired designs of your own.
www.highdesertmuseum.org/innovation-lab