Friday, December 8, 2023
Weekender Art Cellar joins North Bend business community BY BREE LAUGHLIN The World
North Bend’s arts community is continuing to expand with a new downtown business. The Art Cellar is a retail shop, gallery and community space designed to showcase handmade visual and textile art. Owners Blaise Barshaw and Laurie Ann Greenberg said they originally connected over their shared art background. Now, they are excited to share their artistic endeavors with the community. “We wanted to have a
place where people could gather and they could experience art and have an interactive retail experience,” Greenberg said. The eclectic artists are eager to share their passions with the community. Greenberg has been a knitter and fiber lover since the age of seven. She has worked as a weaver, macrame artist and most recently started to crochet. When she doesn’t have a pair of knitting needles or crochet hook in her hand she’s making jewelry out of polymer clay. Barshaw has worked in paper arts, 2-D animation,
silkscreening, illustration, sculpture and costume construction. His ideas start with a single sketch. He describes his style as unique with a bit of a rebellious edge. The idea for the Art Cellar began when the couple started selling their work at the downtown Coos Bay farmer’s market. “We moved to the area a year and a half ago, and we were looking for something to do. This is the smallest town either one of us have lived in so we wanted to break out,” Barshaw said. “We ended up meeting
so many people and it was so much fun,” Greenberg said. The artists said they got so much support that they decided to open their own shop. They found a location, created a logo and put together a website – and are now ready to join North Bend's downtown Main Street Art Cellar continued on page 5
Photos by Bree Laughlin
Laurie Ann Greenberg and Blaise Barshaw recently opened The Art Cellar - a retail shop, gallery and community space designed to showcase handmade visual and textile art.
Girl Scouts Tree of Joy spreads holiday spirit for 40 years BY BREE LAUGHLIN
The World
Local Girl Scouts are keeping a 40-year tradition alive through the Tree of Joy at the Pony Village Mall. Girl Scouts of Oregon troop leaders said the Tree of Joy reflects the true nature of the Christmas spirit by
spreading generosity to those in need during the holidays. Community members throughout the North Bend and Coos Bay areas can help brighten the holiday season for those less fortunate – including children, families, at-risk youth, homeless people and senior citizens – by participating in the Tree of Joy gift giving program. “It is community taking care of community,” said Sara Miller, a local Girl Scout troop leader and Tree of Joy organizer. “It’s also really fabulous to watch the girls get so excited about it,” said Debbie Cox, a fellow Tree of Joy organizer. The girl scouts have decorated the tree inside the Pony Village Mall from
top to bottom with brightly colored paper ornaments. Written on those ornaments are gift ideas for those who need it most. Those who want to participate can select an ornament from the Tree of Joy, purchase the gift requested on the ornament, and return wrapped gifts or gift bagged (along with the original ornament) by Dec. 20. All names have been changed to protect individual identities and
situations. All of the needs of the recipients on the tree
Tree of Joy continued on page 5
Santa joins in Christmas tree lighting celebration BY BREE LAUGHLIN The World
Santa and his helpers came to the Coos Bay Visitor’s Center to help light the Holiday Tree on Friday, Nov. 24. A crowd of children and their parents gathered eagerly to watch the colorful
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display. “Did everyone have a happy Thanksgiving?” Santa asked. “Yes!” The crowd replied. “Can I hear everyone say Merry Christmas? One, two, three!” “Merry Christmas!” “Ho, ho, ho, that was pretty good!” Santa said. Tree Lighting continued on page 4
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