BEND // OLD MILL
Bend Senior Center
1600 SE Reed Market Rd.
541-388-1133
bendparksandrec.org/facility/bend-senior-center
The Bend Senior Center at the Larkspur Community Center is showing art by members of the SageBrushers Art Society. Come visit the facility and enjoy beautiful paintings in acrylic, oil, pastel and watercolor, as well as outstanding photography.
Blue Spruce Pottery
20591 Dorchester E.
541-382-0197 • bluesprucepottery.com
This family-owned business has been making handmade pottery in Bend since 1976. Call to arrange a time to come shop their large selection of mugs, bowls, casseroles, lamps and more. Shop online and have gifts shipped directly to your family and friends. You can also find Blue Spruce Pottery at Red Chair Gallery in downtown Bend.
COCC Barber Library
2600 NW College Way
541-383-7560 • cocc.edu/library
Satsumas on the Moon, a collection of abstract paintings by local artist Andrew C.M. Lorish, continues at Central Oregon Community College’s Barber Library Rotunda Gallery through June 10. The exhibition is free and open to the public. For Rotunda Gallery hours of operation, visit cocc.edu/library.
The paintings on panel are a deep exploration of color, formal abstractions that are inspired by a world focused on the future, yet struggling with self-awareness, according to the artist. Originally from Eugene, Lorish is currently a senior instructor of art and art, media and technology at Oregon State University – Cascades, and is a former COCC art instructor.
Lorish studied print media at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and received an MFA in visual studies from the Pacific Northwest College of Art. Selected exhibitions include Scalehouse Gallery in Bend, False Front Gallery in Portland and Rockerill in Charleroi, Belgium.
For more information, contact Tina Hovekamp, director of library services, at 541-383-7295 or thovekamp@cocc.edu.
In advance of college events, persons needing accommodation or transportation because of a physical or mobility disability should contact campus services at 541-383-7775. For accommodation because of other disability such as hearing impairment, contact student accessibility services at sas@cocc.edu or 541-383-7583.
The Grove
921 NW Mt. Washington Dr.
Presenting abstract floral watercolors by Liz Levesque.
Liz lives in Bend and paints abstract watercolors. As a hospice and palliative care physician, she finds painting has helped her heart express and process grief while staying connected to emotions that arise through love and loss. In the flow of watercolor and through layered washes and blooming pigments, Liz creates visual spaces where grief and gratitude coexist, mirroring the journeys she witnesses daily. She hopes her creativity invites others to discover the moments of beauty and joy within life’s most vulnerable chapters.
High Desert Museum
59800 S Hwy. 97
541-382-4754 • highdesertmuseum.org
Kids Curate returns to the Museum May 5. Come enjoy the students’ artworks based on what they learned over months of special in-class visits as well as field trips to the Museum. Continues through June 7.
The recently opened exhibition, Miguel Almeida: Las Manos que dan de Comer, continues through October 11. In a new, site-specific installation for High Desert Museum, Almeida shares murals, sculptures and animations offering a window into the daily lives of the people that harvest the fresh fruits and vegetables bound for our local markets and dinner tables. Miguel Almeida: Las Manos que dan de Comer (The Hands That Feed) is presented in English and Spanish.
Continuing through June 28, Drawn West explores the history and art of promoting the American West; delving into a century of salesmanship, when artists and cartographers alike crafted an image of the West that depicted both fact and fiction. In a visually engaging exhibition featuring 50-plus maps, artworks and advertisements from the Museum’s extensive collections, Drawn West: A History of Promoting Place invites you to explore the myths and marketing of the American West. Explore original advertisements, maps and artwork from prominent Western artists including Charles M. Russell, Frederic Remington and more.
Continuing through January 3, 2027: Under Pressure: A Volcanic Exploration. For thousands of years, the tranquility of the High Desert has been punctuated by the explosive power of volcanoes. Under Pressure: A Volcanic Exploration explores the natural history and science behind the West’s most iconic powerhouses. This immersive gallery experience will engage visitors’ senses with hands-on activities and intense visuals, feeling the coarseness of volcanic rock and hearing stories about historic eruptions. Under Pressure takes a deep dive into the geologic giants that exist all around us.
Jeffrey Murray Photography Gallery
118 NW Minnesota Ave.
541-325-6225 • jeffreymurrayphotography.com
The Jeffrey Murray Photography Gallery features the work of local photographer Jeffrey Murray. Visitors can browse comfortably in the two-story gallery enjoying visually adventurous displays of landscape, wildlife and contemporary work. Open Tuesday-Sunday.
Kreitzer Gallery
20214 Archie Briggs Rd.
805-234-2048 • KreitzerArt.com
Kreitzer Gallery and Studio open every week Friday through Sunday, 1-5pm. Please text ahead to view: 805-234-2048.
Thomas Albright, Art Critic of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: “David Kreitzer is a highly traditional figure painter who demonstrates how much poetic intensity the old tradition can still contain.” A full-time artist since he received his master’s degree in painting at San Jose State University in 1967, David grew up the son of a Lutheran minister who, due to his calling, moved his family frequently throughout the Nebraska countryside. His works are in the collections of Howard and Roberta Ahmanson, Hirschhorn Foundation, the corporate headquarters of Revlon Olga, Barnes-Hind, Sinclair Paints, Lloyd’s Bank, Cargill and the San Diego, Sheldon, Minnesota, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Museums. Private collectors include Howard and Roberta Ahmanson, Ray Bradbury, Mary Tyler Moore, Michael Douglas, Pepe Romero, Quinn Martin, Raymond Burr and Donald Simon.
Layor Art Gallery
1000 NW Wall St., Ste. 110
541-322-0421 • layorart.com
Layor Art presents new work by Benjamin Moser alongside Bend-based artist Zack Fagin with Sagebrushers Art Society. The exhibition opens May 1 from 5-8pm and runs through the month of May. Moser brings a reflective approach to image and narrative, shaped by a strong engagement with art history and visual culture. His work explores the emotional weight of looking, drawing connections between past and present. Fagin’s practice is rooted in design, composition, and atmosphere, balancing structure and intuition to create immersive, spatially driven pieces. Together, Moser and Fagin present a dialogue between narrative and abstraction, history and immediacy. The exhibition invites viewers to slow down, look closer, and consider how images shape the way we experience place, memory, and time. Founded in Central Oregon, the SageBrushers Art Society is a long-standing, member-run nonprofit dedicated to supporting artists through shared studio space, exhibitions and education. Their work brings a range of regional voices and mediums into the gallery, expanding the conversation across the exhibition.
Lubbesmeyer Art Studio & Gallery
Second Story Loft, Center of Old Mill District
541-706-0761 • lubbesmeyerart.com
Migration is part of an ongoing series of vibrant, expansive landscapes dominated by an ethereal depth of the sky. In this painting, a hummingbird is depicted by a tiny brush stroke placed in an enormous sky to represent the flight of thousands of miles to journey from its winter habitat in Central and South America, for the spring breeding season in North America. This astonishing event is an inspiring metaphor for perseverance through that which may seem insurmountable.
This painting is a collaborative work by twin artists Lisa and Lori Lubbesmeyer. Working at the Lubbesmeyer Art Studio & Gallery in Bend, the sisters are known for a unique creative process where they take turns working on the same piece to achieve a unified vision.
Mockingbird Gallery
869 NW Wall St., Ste. 100
541-388-2107 • mockingbird-gallery.com
Mockingbird Gallery is thrilled to open From Soul to Surface May 1 from 5-8pm. This exhibition features two of our most notable artists, Dan Chen and Silas Thompson. Dan Chen is a renowned nature and wildlife artist known for blending Eastern and Western techniques to create his artwork, especially his sculpture. His signature dynamic style showcases various wildlife in energetic, fluid poses that are detailed, emotive, and balanced. Silas Thompson, raised in central Idaho, was captivated by the untamed beauty of nature early on. Experiences in the backcountry embedded in him a desire to create artwork that evokes memory, emotion, and the physical presence of a place. His paintings strive to capture the illusion of time, solidity, and movement — imbued with a sense of wonder and reverence. Both artists will attend the opening to engage with guests and discuss their work. The show will run through the end of May.
Oxford Hotel
10 NW Minnesota Ave.
541-382-8436
Joren Traveler’s adventurous oil paintings are featured at The Oxford Hotel during the month of May. A member of the High Desert Art League, Joren is both a painter and sculptor. She thrives on new media and techniques using oil-based clay and ceramics, oil paint, pastels and water-based media. “Each one teaches me something new,” explains Joren. “The challenge is then how to incorporate them into my work. I especially enjoy creating a sense of life while telling a story with my paintings. Hiking Smith Rocks and watching the climbers who come from all over the world to test their skills inspired me to capture the scene.”
Premiere Property Group
25 NW Minnesota Ave.
541-241-6860 • bend.premierepropertygroup.com
Wildlife artist Vivian Olsen is featuring her work at Premiere Property Group through the month of May in her show, Artist in the Wilds of Oregon.
Vivian loves living in the Northwest after many years in New Mexico. There, for 20 years, she was the art teacher at Socorro High School, while also creating professional wildlife paintings and exhibiting in many galleries in the state. After retiring as a teacher, she moved to Redmond, where she continues to create paintings of the wild animals she loves.
In addition to her show at Premiere Property Group this month, Vivian’s dramatic watercolor paintings of deer, coyotes, and many species of birds may be viewed in exhibits and galleries in Central Oregon, including Hood Avenue Gallery in Sisters, art shows of the High Desert Art League and the Dry Canyon Arts Association.
Artist in the Wilds of Oregon, always out there capturing the beauty of animals.
SageBrushers Art Society
117 SW Roosevelt Ave.
541-617-0900 • sagebrushersartofbend.com
SageBrushers presents their annual show, The Wonderful World of Pastel, May 2-June 30, where more than a dozen artists will be showing their work. Join the artists at a reception at the gallery on May 16, 2-4pm.
The gallery is open Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 1-4pm.
Scalehouse Gallery
550 NW Franklin Ave STE 138
541-362-1288 • scalehouse.org
Scalehouse Gallery is pleased to present two new exhibitions.
Home, a solo exhibition by Jennifer Rabin that explores resilience, transformation and the possibilities of rebuilding.
Home is filled with second chances. Each sculpture begins with a discarded object – metal rusted thin, concrete crumbled by time, materials warped by weather and neglect. Their surfaces record everything that has shaped them, echoing the ways our bodies and communities carry the marks of their experiences.
Inspired by how creatures build homes from whatever is at hand, Rabin combines found forms with plant and animal fibers to reimagine these unwanted objects as shelters – structures that might still protect, cradle, or hold. By transforming what is ruined into something resilient, the work asks how we might rebuild the structures in our lives that have been fractured. It imagines repair not as restoration to a previous state, but as an evolving, adaptive way forward.
An opening reception will be held on Friday, May 1 from 5-7pm, and an artist talk will be held on Saturday, May 2 at 11am. The exhibition will be on view from May 1-29.
Scalehouse ANNEX Gallery presents Visual Echoes, an exhibition of contemporary works by Oregon-based visual artists in connection with Oregon Origins Project VIII: Echoes of Eruption. This exhibition reflects and responds to the geologic history of Newberry Volcano through the artists’ explorations of form, texture, and environment.
Visual Echoes brings together a diverse group of artists whose work engages with the natural and cultural landscapes of Oregon. Through 2D artworks, the exhibition explores themes of memory, transformation, and the interplay between human activity and geological forces. Each piece invites viewers to consider how the traces of past events – both natural and human – shape the present, and how art can interpret and amplify these echoes.
An opening reception will be held on Friday, May 1 from 5-7pm.
The Stacks Art Studios & Gallery
Old Mill District, Second Floor
404-944-9170 • oldmilldistrict.com/art-gallery/the-stacks-art-studios-gallery
Alyson Brown is a photographer and stylist specializing in food and beverage. Her latest work appears in the pages of Thursday Night Tiki Lounge by Jennifer Newens, a cocktail book releasing May 12 that brings the spirit of tiki culture to life through vibrant, evocative imagery. The shoot had a local flavor, too. Some of the tiki barware was supplied by Rapa Nui Tiki, her neighbor in Bend’s Old Mill District. Alyson’s eye for light, texture and composition transforms every pour, garnish and glass into something worth lingering over.
Based out of The Stacks Studios in The Old Mill District, she brings a natural world sensibility to commercial and editorial work alike. To see more of her work, visit alysonbrown.com, or stop by The Stacks to see her in action!
Tumalo Art Company
Old Mill District
541-385-9144 • tumaloartco.com
Our May group exhibit, Bloom, moves past the garden gate to celebrate the many ways we unfold. The show opens May 1, from 3-7pm during the Old Mill District First Friday Gallery Walk.
Beyond the petal and the vine, “blooming” is a state of being. A courageous, quiet riot of becoming exactly who and what we were meant to be. The works gathered in the show from our group of artists, in all media, and expressions of the theme, and sizes from small to large, capture those fleeting, beautiful seconds of transition, exploring the gentle strength it takes to open up after a long winter. Both metaphorically and physically.
Tumalo Art Co. is an artist-run gallery in the heart of the Old Mill District, open seven days a week.
Wachs Studio
25 NW Minnesota Ave.
(above Thump Coffee)
541-633-0620 • wachsstudio.com
Actual working studio by David Wachs open to the public this First Friday, from 4-9pm. Original paintings from alpine and desert adventures around the western United States, Canada and Europe. All of the images represent a place visited in person on foot, ski or motorcycle in the past ten years of travel. Paintings for sale range from small 5”x7” studies to large canvases scaled in feet dimensions.
REDMOND
Arome
432 SW Sixth St.
541-527-4727 • aromekitchen.com
Rex Krueger loves to work with wood and “polish it until its natural character glows!” He creates pens, kitchen utensils, candlesticks, urns, toys and more. Each piece is unique with high-quality design and construction, including that highly polished oil-based finish.
Rick Thompson actively resists being pigeon-holed into any particular genre. If something catches his eye, he paints it. His easel currently hosts everything from landscapes and portraits to wildlife and heavy machinery. His objective is to capture the essence of these subjects using strong colors, bringing the illusion of life to the flat canvas.
Bill Lind creates beautiful and functional wood bowls and decorative hollow vessels from locally salvaged hardwoods.
Cares & Whoas
436 SW Sixth St.
916-354-2119 • caresandwhoas.com
Brad Harrison’s work combines metal, wood and mechanical elements to create handcrafted pieces with a rugged, industrial aesthetic. Each item is designed and made by hand, blending practical function with artistic craftsmanship.
Desert Prairie Boutique
404 SW Sixth St., Ste. 100
541-527-1887 • desertprairie.com
Michael Weisker reproduces the brilliant watercolors of his late wife, Kimberlee, in colorful cards and keepsakes.
Dry Canyon Community Art Center
415 SW Sixth St.
drycanyonarts.org
At the Dry Canyon Community Art Center, the Featured Artist is Molly Freitag, “The Painter-Chaplain of Prineville.” Molly says her work is abstract with an organic quality. Maybe you will see galaxies, skies, water environments, microscopic views or pathways of change through fields of light and movement. Come by Dry Canyon Community Art Center during First Friday to participate in a reception in Molly’s honor and experience some of her artwork.
Another must-see at Dry Canyon Community Art Center in May is a wide-ranging exhibition bringing together the young and, well, experienced. In an exhibit entitled Emerging and Established, find exciting works from Redmond high school students alongside masterful works by members of the High Desert Art League and The SageBrushers Art Society, as well as ceramic artists from around Central Oregon.
Harcourts The Garner Group Real Estate
444 SW Sixth St.
541-383-4360 • thegarnergroup.com
Lynda Hurwitz specializes in functional pottery that is designed for practical use, such as serving platters, bowls, mugs and planters. Each handcrafted piece is unique, food safe, dishwasher and microwave safe.
Vincenzo Barraco is an enthusiastic birder who loves to share the beauty of nature through brief moments frozen in time with the art of photography.
Converse Fields creates high-fired porcelain pottery both decorative and functional. He strives to bring beauty into our community through his use of vibrant glazes and bold forms. Find more about Converse at fieldspottery.com.
Willow Wild
321 SW Sixth St.
541-527-4320 • shopwillowwild.com
Heather Fortune is fascinated by colors, light and shadow, and people doing the things people do. She says, “I like to paint people doing life in color, with light and structure.”
SCP Redmond Hotel
521 SW Sixth St.
SCPHotel.com
Erin Skeer has a love for gardening and takes the outdoors and turns it into art. She finds inspiration every time she is in nature.
Richard Ford works with hot-formed and cast glass. He explores asymmetry, visual excess and implied motion, allowing color and form to carry narrative and energy.
Walter Troutman has a passion for creating with clay. No two pieces are alike or perfect because he is always experimenting with design, color, texture, finish, glaze, shape. Walther says, “It gives me great joy, purpose and satisfaction to be able to express my creativity.”