FIRST FRIDAY & BEND EXHIBITS

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 new facility and enjoy beautiful paintings in acrylic, oil, pastel and watercolor, as well as outstanding photography. Showing thru June.

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

In partnership with the Association of Northwest Weavers’ Guilds and Weaving Guilds of Oregon, COCC Barber Library is exhibiting an extensive collection of tapestries woven by noted artist Margaret Kilbuck Johansen in its Rotunda Gallery from June 5 to August 29. Some works of the approximately 100-piece collection will be available for purchase. For gallery hours, visit cocc.edu/library. Margaret Kilbuck Johansen (1923-2004) was an Oregon fiber artist and art instructor who taught at Linfield College, the Oregon State College of Education (now Western Oregon University), and at Carnegie Institute of Technology. She was one of the first Americans invited to exhibit work in the Lausanne Biennale in Switzerland. A self-taught weaver, Johansen attributed some of her artistic influence to her Native American heritage and her early years living in Hood River.

The exhibition is being held in conjunction with the biennial conference of the Association of Northwest Weavers’ Guilds, sponsored this year by Weaving Guilds of Oregon, June 11-18, expected to bring close to 600 member participants to Bend. The association comprises more than 85 fiber arts guilds across the Pacific Northwest and western Canada.

COCC Pinckney Gallery

2600 NW College Way

541-383-7560 • cocc.edu

COCC visual arts department is proud to present the annual Student Art Exhibition, featuring more than 150 works on display now thru June 16 in the Pinckney Gallery in Pence Hall, with an opening reception from 4:30-7pm on Wednesday, June 7. The reception includes an awards presentation at 6pm. The exhibition provides COCC students the opportunity to experience the submission and jury process, and present their artwork in a professional art gallery. Many of the pieces are for sale and 100 percent of sales go directly to the student.

The gallery is open Monday-Thursday, 9am-4pm and Fridays, 9am-2pm.

The Grove

921 NW Mt. Washington Dr.

The Grove at Northwest Crossing is continuing a group exhibit of pastels by Jan Dow, watercolors by Liz Haberman and Helen Brown, and oil paintings by Pamela Beaverson. The show will conclude on June 9.

High Desert Museum

59800 S Hwy. 97

541-382-4754 highdesertmuseum.org

Imagine strolling through a life-size diorama that takes you on a journey through the world of vaqueros — Latinx cowboys — brought to life with vibrant piñata paper. That is the experience multidisciplinary artist Justin Favela is bringing to the High Desert Museum in a new, original exhibition Vistas del Cielo, which opened on Saturday, May 27.

Favela, who is based in Las Vegas, Nevada and Springdale, Arkansas, is well known for his large-scale installations and sculptures using colorful piñata material. His work invites visitors to experience playful landscapes of color and texture.

Vistas del Cielo takes the visitor on an immersive journey through a sometimes-overlooked history and culture of vaqueros, braceros and traqueros who have worked, roped and ranched throughout the region’s history. Vistas del Cielo translates to “views from the sky.” Meant to feel accessible and at the same time evoke reverence, the installation is described by Favela as “a kid’s imagination of their grandfather’s story in an amusement park.” He calls art his way of taking up space and expressing joy.

Favela’s humble piñata materials transform into floating panes of paper stained glass in homage to the old churches visited with his grandfather, who was a vaquero. A Guatemalan-Mexican-American, Favela aims to reach across generational lines to celebrate the rich history of Latinx experiences in the High Desert region.

Favela’s unique installations have been on exhibit at numerous institutions throughout the country including the Denver Art Museum in Colorado, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas and Meow Wolf: Omega Mart in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was the recipient of the 2018 Alan Turing LGTBIQ Award in the category of International Artist and was awarded the Joan Mitchell Fellowship in 2021. Favela earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in fine art from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Favela also hosts two culture-oriented podcasts, Latinos Who Lunch and The Art People Podcast .

Vistas del Cielo ( highdesertmuseum.org/vistas-del-cielo ) will be on display thru November 26, 2023.

Continuing thru June 25, 2023, In The Arena; and continuing thru October 1, Creations of Spirit