The latest news stories across the state of Oregon from the digital home of the Oregon coastal cities, OregonBeachMagazine.com
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
Oregon Beach Weather
U.S. Coast Guard Crews Are Working To Dispose Of Two Ships That Sunk In The Columbia River Off Hayden Island
Two derelict ships that sunk in the Columbia River are finally being removed with the help of the U.S. Coast Guard and other state agencies.
The two ships first arrived in Portland in 2006. After sitting off Hayden Island for more than a decade, both ships sunk last year. Now the Coast Guard is carefully removing any leftover oil from the vessels before hauling them off for disposal.
When the vessels first arrived more than 15 years ago, they were purchased by a nonprofit organization in hopes of turning them into a floating museum. But those plans never worked out, and eventually the two ships — the 100-foot military tug Sakarissa and the 125-foot former Coast Guard cutter Alert — were seized by the state of Oregon.
Both ships sank before any coordinated effort could materialize to have them towed away and dismantled, making the prospect of removing them even more costly and time-consuming. Thankfully, it’s now happening.
This isn’t the first time that crews with the Coast Guard have been out to the Columbia River along Hayden Island in North Portland.
“Back in 2020 the Coast Guard responded to a report of diesel fuel in the areas of the ships and we responded using the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund and removed thousands of gallons of diesel fuel,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Travis Magee, a spokesperson with the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard will be using $1 million from that fund to raise each ship out of the water and then safely dump any remaining oil out. Magee said the vessel Alert sank last October, and it was April when the Sakarissa sank. There’s still no word on what caused these ships to sink, but Magee said that there were people living on them at certain points.
Magee added that the Coast Guard will oversee operations to raise both vessels and transport them to a facility to offload any more oil waste from the two ships.
Top priority for the Coast Guard this time around for these two ships that sit between the Interstate Bridge and the railroad bridge is to protect the surrounding environment.
As of Monday, the Sakarissa was floating again. The plan is to get the Alert, still partially submerged in the Columbia River, out of the water by later this week or by the end of this month.
Crews with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Oregon Department of State Lands are also assisting in the cleanup.
Lincoln City Receives $750K for New Park
Lincoln City Parks and Recreation will receive $750K from Oregon Parks and Recreation to continue development of a new 6.71 acre park in Taft.
The funding will allow the first community park to be built in south Lincoln City’s historic Taft District where the old Taft Elementary School once stood. Features of the new park will include turfed and surfaced multi-sport fields and courts, a large covered outdoor special event area, picnic shelters, restrooms, playground and an accessible walking path around the park.
“We are so excited,” Lincoln City Parks and Recreation Director Jeanne Sprague said. “Thank you to OPRD for understanding the value and need of a new community park in Lincoln City. This new park will offer health, wellness and many other benefits to our residents, visitors, and local economy. This OPRD funding is getting us to our goal of park construction.”
The needed new funding for the park by Oregon Parks and Recreation compliments the existing $1 million in State of Oregon funding State Rep. David Gomberg helped secure with House Bill 5202.
“I’m convinced the new Community Park in LC will become a staple of this community, providing much-needed recreational space, opportunities for our kids, and new business opportunities for the Central Coast,” Gomberg said. “This is a visionary use of the space and we’ll see the results for decades to come.”
“The voices in our community have asked to have this park built, we’re listening and we’re moving towards the goal line,” Sprague said. “The building of this community park in Taft is needed, public sports fields, sports courts and special event areas are needed, all of which will support our local economy.”
Lincoln City bought the land from Lincoln County School District for $422K in December 2020, having been in talks since 2008. Lincoln City Urban Renewal Agency built a 61-space parking lot in anticipation of the new park.
Phased steps in preparation of the final design will see Lincoln City parks and Rec working with Public Works to complete land surveys and the final demolition of the decommissioned Taft school maintenance shop. Landscape designs are slated to start this winter and the public will have a chance to have a say in park amenities.
Construction is planned to begin late 2023/early 2024.
The Oregon Department of Forestry wants to remind Oregonians that even with the weather starting to transition to fall, fire is still on the landscape and fire season is still in effect.
Oregon is still experiencing severe drought in majority of the state, dry fuels, higher temperatures and low humidity, the department wants to warn the public against complacency. Even with lower temperatures, there is still potential for a fire to start and grow significantly.
Thus far in the season, Oregonians have done a good job of keeping human-caused fires below the 10-year average. ODF encourages the public to keep up the good work and persist until the official end of fire season.
Several ODF districts have updated their fire danger levels recently; however most of the state remains between moderate and extreme fire danger. Visit http://Oregon.gov/odf to find local fire restrictions and http://keeporegongreen.org for more wildfire prevention tips.
Cool and Humid Conditions Continue to Aid Suppression Efforts on Rum Creek Fire
Crews continue to focus on suppressions repair work along dozer and hand lines, in an effort to reduce additional impacts on the forest and local watersheds. Water bars have been created and vegetation spread over lines to prevent additional erosion.
All evacuations have been lifted but some recreational area and road closures remain in place as crews continue road repair and hazard tree removal within the burn area.
Rum Creek fire area is holding at 83 percent containment with no new fire growth. Crews continue to be downsized, with 330 people remaining. Unsettled weather will continue for several days bringing higher humidity levels and scattered showers. Wind gusts of up to 22 mph are expected for the second day in a row for upper slopes and ridges. Isolated lightning levels today and tomorrow are not predicted to start fires but could bring rain levels strong enough to wash soils, provide instability in burned areas, and be a safety concern for public and fire crews within the fire perimeter. Crews will focus on suppression, mop up, patrol, rehab/repair, and hazard tree mitigation.
Road Checkpoints: Road blocks are located at: Galice Rd north of Almeda; Peavine East Road at Bear Camp Road; Peavine West Road at Upper Bear Camp Road; Quartz Creek Road about 3 miles up (end of County maintenance); Hog Creek Road at Galice Road; and Galice Road at the bridge by Grave Creek Boat Ramp.
Recreation Area Openings: The Rogue River Trail (river right) is open, as is Almeda County Park. Rocky Bar, Robert Dean, Chair, and Rand Recreation sites remain closed at this time. The Rainie Falls National Recreation Trail (on river left) remains closed. The Grave Creek boat ramp is not accessible from Galice Road. Additional recreation sites are being assessed. Revised closure order and map: https://www.blm.gov/programs/public-safety-and-fire/fire-and-aviation/regional-info/oregon-washington/fire-restrictions.
River status: The Wild section of the Rogue River below Grave Creek is open. The Smullin Visitor Center in Rand is now open for permits, and new Wild Section permits will be issued starting on Monday. The recreation section of the Rogue River is open, however the Rand and Argo Boat Ramps are closed. Day users are recommended to take out at Almeda. Please call 541-471-6535 for more information.
Rain and Cooler Weather Help Firefighters Bring 113,000-Acre Cedar Creek Fire Back To 11% Containment
A weekend of cooler weather and some widespread rainfall helped a still-growing army of nearly 2,600 firefighters on the 113,000-acre Cedar Creek Fire conduct burnout work and build fire lines, to reach their first containment figure in days, at 11%, officials said Monday
The cost of that fight has grown too, of course, to nearly $72 million as of Monday morning, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Status: The fire is 11% contained, with containment line on the west side of the fire between Forest Service Road 24 and Fifth Creek, the stretch from Charlton Lake west to the shore of Waldo Lake, and the north and west shores of Waldo Lake. Oakridge and communities west of the fire will experience the most smoke as southeast winds continue today.
The West Zone of the fire is currently burning with low intensity creeping, and smoldering. Fire spread is occurring in areas with deep, dry litter and heavy fuels. The East Zone is experiencing fire behavior including creeping, smoldering, and single-tree torching. Fire growth is minimal. Sheltered heat may reemerge after the rain if fuels continue to be dry enough.
West Zone Operations: Heavy smoke and fog lingered through much of the fire area on Monday morning. This inhibited fire growth during the day but also limited firing operations in the morning. Along the south and southwestern edges, firefighters were able to make progress on firing operations along Forest Service Road 5871 and near Eagle Creek. Visibility cleared enough by afternoon for aerial ignitions by helicopter near Kwiskwis Butte. These operations reduce fuels between the fireline and the main fire. Crews continued mopping up along Forest Service Road 2409 and Forest Service Road 1928 where previous firing operations occurred on the western edge of the fire.
As the wetter weather comes into the fire area, firefighter and public safety remains top priority. After steep terrain has burned, rocks once held in place by root systems or vegetation loosen and pose a hazard to firefighters. Dead or fire weakened trees (snags) can fall, compromising the fireline and presenting a risk to firefighters. Firefighters will continue cutting snags and extinguishing hot spots to secure the fire line where previous burning operations occurred. If the weather clears and conditions allow, crews are poised to take advantage of windows of opportunity for continued burning operations.
East Zone Operations: Hotshot crews are wrapping up their work on the fireline and containment line along Forest Service Road 4290. Charlton Lake west to Waldo Lake has been contained and the east side of Charlton Lake to the Cascade Lakes Highway is being improved as a fire break. On the east side of Waldo Lake, crews have completed 6 miles of fuel break, 75 feet deep, along Forest Service Road 5896 and Forest Service Road 5897 from Charlton Lake to Highway 58. More than 170 structures have been prepped on the north side of Odell Lake and near Crescent Junction, and some engines will be released today. Most of the protection work has been completed in campgrounds.
Crews continue work to join Forest Service Road 4668 and Forest Service Road 4660 to create a break between Odell Lake, Davis Lake, and the Cascade Lakes Highway. Between Little Cultus Lake and Deer Lake, crews are brushing, chipping, and removing snags along Forest Service Road 640 to protect Cultus Mountain from future fire advancement. Final clean up is happening on the Forest Service Road 700 fuel break connecting Little Cultus Lake and the Cascade Lakes Highway. Heavy equipment including feller bunchers, masticators, and hydro axes continue work along the Cascade Lakes highway building a shaded fuel break 100 feet wide. This improvement not only protects values at risk from the Cedar Creek fire, but it will remain a valuable tool for managing fire in the future.
Weather: For the next few days, scattered showers and rain are forecasted for much of the fire area. The wet weather is currently slowing fire behavior. However, the amount of rain accumulation expected, especially in areas of thick forest canopy, is not considered a season-ending event.
Evacuations: An updated map of the evacuation areas is available at www.LaneCountyOR.gov/CedarCreek. Sign-up for emergency mobile alerts by going to oralert.gov. Please check with Lane County Sheriff’s Office at 541-682-4150 and Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office at 541-693-6911 for updates and changes. Lane County residents can use the Lane County Sheriff’s Office Flash Alert site for information to support insurance claims for reimbursement for lodging https://flashalert.net/id/LaneSheriff.
Closures: Elijah Bristow State Park and Dexter Boat Launch are closed to the public since they are being used by firefighters. The Deschutes National Forest and Willamette National Forest both have closures in effect to protect the public and firefighters. Please visit Willamette National Forest and Deschutes National Forest for the most recent closure orders and maps. A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) is in place. The use of drones is prohibited in the fire area, please make it safe for our firefighters to use aircraft on the fire. Pacific Crest Trail hikers should visit pcta.org for current information. See a map of the fire area with both forest closures here: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/map/8307/0/137083
Restrictions: Fire restrictions are in place on the Willamette National Forest and Deschutes National Forest.
Smoke: For current conditions, see Fire.airnow.gov, oakridgeair.org, and LRAPA – Today’s Current Air Quality. Smoke Forecast Outlooks are available at https://outlooks.wildlandfiresmoke.net/outlook.
Online: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8307/ | https://www.facebook.com/CedarCreekFire2022/ |
YouTube: https://www.tinyurl.com/cedarcreekfireyoutube
Oregon’s eligibility guidance for monkeypox vaccines no longer refers to sexual orientation or gender, according to an announcement from the state’s Health Authority last week. Anyone is eligible for the vaccine if they know someone who has had monkeypox and has had, or anticipates having, direct, skin-to-skin contact with at least one other person.
Oregon Health Authority officials said in a statement that they have learned that mentioning gender and sexual orientation was a barrier for some people seeking vaccinations.
The public health agency is also encouraging “venue-based” vaccine events at places frequented by people in the community most affected by monkeypox, men who have sex with men.
Exactly how to approach public messaging about the monkeypox outbreak in Oregon, which is primarily affecting a small portion of the population in an outsized way, has been difficult from the beginning. The goal has been to get information to the people who need it most without stoking undue fear of the disease, nor propagating prejudices about the most-affected community. After an initial rush to get limited vaccines, demand has dropped significantly in the last four weeks.
National Voter Registration Day 9/20/2022
National Voter Registration Day is a day of civic unity. It’s an opportunity to set aside differences, enjoy the rights and opportunities we all share as Americans, and celebrate our democracy.
National Voter Registration Day is a nonpartisan civic holiday celebrating our democracy. First observed in 2012, it has quickly gained momentum ever since. Nearly 4.7 million voters have registered to vote on the holiday to date. https://nationalvoterregistrationday.org/
Celebrated every September, National Voter Registration Day involves volunteers and organizations from all over the country hitting the streets in a single day of coordinated field, technology and media efforts. National Voter Registration Day seeks to create broad awareness of voter registration opportunities to reach tens of thousands of voters who may not register otherwise.
According to U.S. Census data from 2020, as many as 1 in 4 eligible Americans are not registered to vote. Every year, millions of Americans find themselves unable to vote because they miss a registration deadline, don’t update their registration, or aren’t sure how to register. National Voter Registration Day wants to make sure everyone has the opportunity to vote.
How to register to vote in Oregon
Oregon offers online voter registration. You can register by mail to vote in Oregon by printing a voter registration form, filling it out, and mailing it to your local election office. You can also register to vote in person if you prefer. Check registration status · Register to vote
Who can register to vote? To register in Oregon you must:
- be a citizen of the United States
- be a resident of Oregon
- be at least 16 years old to register, and 18 years old by election day to vote
What You Will Need
To register to vote online you will need an Oregon driver’s license, permit or ID card number issued by the Oregon Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division (DMV).
If you do not have an Oregon driver’s license, permit or ID card, you can still use the online voter registration application. The information you enter will display on a voter registration card (PDF document) that you will need to print, sign and deliver to your county elections office to complete your registration.
Registration Deadline
A new registrant must submit their online registration by 11:59:59 p.m. Pacific Time on the 21st calendar day before an election to be eligible to vote in that election.
MORE INFO: https://sos.oregon.gov/voting/pages/registration.aspx?lang=en
Oregon Flooded With Records Requests from Right-Wing Election Deniers
The Secretary of State’s office has received three times the normal amount of records requests as people seek information about voting machines. The requests have been sparked by election misinformation.
As Oregon election officials are busy preparing for a November election with pivotal races for Governor, Congress, and the Legislature, they’ve been buried in a wave of records requests and letters threatening lawsuits.
The flurry of paperwork is part of a national campaign by right-wing election deniers to complicate or undermine their work, they say.
The Oregon Secretary of State’s office received more than 200 records requests in July and August, more than triple the usual amount, said Ben Morris, a spokesperson for the office. Some county election clerks report they also have been hit with a barrage of records requests.
Most of the requests to the state elections office sought information about ballot-counting machines used in local elections, Morris said.
Those machines are in the crosshairs of activists nationwide after last month’s call to action by prominent election denier and pillow company executive Mike Lindell. Lindell has baselessly said that hackers helped rig the November 2020 election for President Joe Biden by infiltrating election machines.
In a typical records request Oregon’s elections office received this month, a man asked for any emails, texts or other communications between election officials that reference Lindell or voting data he has demanded. Some requests appeared to originate from email chains with instructions for submitters.
County clerks state they are struggling to keep up with the influx of records requests that they say waste valuable time and resources. Under state transparency law, public officials must quickly evaluate and respond to records requests, which can be complex and lengthy. Multnomah County Elections Director Tim Scott said his office received nine records requests in a single day last week. To cope, he’s adding a new staff member to keep up with the demands for information, which he said are often vague and time-intensive.
Scott, who is also president of the Oregon Association of County Clerks, said the records campaign appears coordinated. Many recent requests were sent to all 36 Oregon counties.
“It’s happening in every office,” he said.
Activists are also sending identical letters demanding clerks keep records from past elections or face litigation. Deschutes County Clerk Steve Dennison said his office received an “unprecedented” 30 demands from different people since late August. Dennison said he may need to ask for help from other county departments to respond to the letters and records requests.
Many of the letters reference an Oregon woman’s lawsuit against Oregon’s secretary of state, Shemia Fagan, that alleges foreign interference in elections and flaws in cybersecurity, echoing election denier talking points. Election officials are holding onto their records of the November 2020 election until the lawsuit concludes, Scott said.
Some officials speculated that the flurry of emails and letters could be intended to distract clerks from preparing for the upcoming general election, which includes at least two tight races for Congress. Key dates for election preparation are nearing, such as a deadline to print and mail ballots to overseas voters and military personnel by Sept. 24.
“It appears to be a very small group of people, who are very loud, who are seemingly attempting to gum up the works,” Yamhill County Commissioner Casey Kulla said. He also received the letters along with other commissioners who do not steward voting records.
Jennifer Gunter, who filed the lawsuit against Fagan, did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Tina Milcarek, a prolific records requester named in the lawsuit also did not respond to several emailed requests for comment.
National Campaign
Election officials from North Carolina to Colorado and Georgia have reported receiving a wave of communications after Lindell asked supporters for help acquiring records of how each voter, without personally identifying information attached, voted in 2020, which insiders call “cast vote” records.
Those records are created by ballot tabulation machines used in Oregon and other states. Officials hold the machines in high regard, but election deniers have attacked them as untrustworthy. The U.S. government’s Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council, which is made up of election and cybersecurity experts, has said there is no evidence that voting systems were “in any way compromised” in 2020.
“Cast vote” records take different forms depending on the vendor type. Often, they’re “massive spreadsheets,” said Jackson County Clerk Chris Walker. She said the records requests have become “a source of anxiety” in her Medford office.
So far, her employees haven’t created a single electronic file of all cast vote records because no requester has been willing to pay the high cost, Walker said. Her county tallied more than 128,000 ballots in the November 2020 election. In Multnomah County, the state’s largest jurisdiction, Scott said it’s also common for requesters to back out when they see the cost of a records request.
Oregon Safeguards
Cast vote records are typically used by political scientists or auditors. It’s unclear how the requesters might use the records. The Oregon Secretary of State’s office provided The Oregonian/OregonLive with dozens of requests for the records and other asks related to ballot-counting machines.
Morris, the office’s spokesperson, said election officials publicly test vote-counting machines before and after elections. Election staff also compare paper ballots received through the state’s vote-by-mail system to the machine-generated tallies, rendering widespread manipulation of the machines “impossible.”
“In their minds, they’re doing a public service,” Morris said of election deniers. “But the effect of what they’re doing is, they’re bogging down a system that was designed to make government more transparent.”
In interviews, the county clerks emphasized they’ll comply with public records laws one way or another. But they said the influx is bad timing.
“We are 100 percent in the thick of this election and these constant records requests are really pulling us away from the duties that we are charged with,” Walker said.
New research conducted in Oregon suggests a YouTube video could be a useful suicide prevention tool for the veteran community.
Dr. Alan Teo, an OHSU psychiatry professor and a researcher at the Portland VA, says the short video helped friends and family have difficult conversations with veterans about suicide.
“This is not the hallelujah moment, yet. This is a spark,” says Dr. Teo. “Suicide is a complex problem, a complex behavior. And so, training the public and training loved ones is part of that. Does it solve it all? No. But there is no one thing that’s going to solve suicide. It requires mental health resources, it requires training – like we studied, it requires novel therapeutics or medication or other types of treatment to help reduce risk.”
Researchers used social media to recruit people close to military vets to watch the “VA S.A.V.E.” training on YouTube. Dr. Teo says it worked for two reasons, “It was specifically tailored and designed to the veteran community – Training that doesn’t resonate with a person is a training that’s not going to work. And then, number two, it was brief. And by brief, I mean, it was 24 minutes total.”
Success was measured by participants’ willingness to talk about suicide with an at-risk vet, their comfort level and desire to share the video. “We’re not ready to sort of unveil it to the whole world and say this is a solution,” Teo states, “However, we are ready to scale up and test this on a wider scale.” VA S.A.V.E. is already being used to train non-clinical VA staff.
Suicide rates among veterans consistently exceed the civilian population. If you or someone you know is struggling, call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. “VA S.A.V.E.” training on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eljsbl3zu-A
Oregon State University Leaf Temperature Study Suggests Forests’ Carbon Uptake Will Be Compromised By Climate Change
A new study led by Oregon State University suggests leaves in forest canopies are not able to cool themselves below the surrounding air temperature, likely meaning trees’ ability to avoid damaging temperature increases, and to pull carbon from the atmosphere, will be compromised in a warmer, drier climate.
The findings by an international collaboration that included researchers from multiple universities and government agencies contrast with a prevailing theory in the scientific community that canopy leaves can keep their temperature within an optimal range for photosynthesis—the process through which green plants make their food from sunlight and carbon dioxide.
Published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the research is important for understanding and predicting plant responses to climate change, said lead author Chris Still of the OSU College of Forestry, who notes that multiple studies suggest many of the world’s forests are approaching their thermal limit for carbon uptake.
“A hypothesis known as limited leaf homeothermy argues that through a combination of functional traits and physiological responses, leaves can keep their daytime temperature close to the best temperature for photosynthesis and below what is damaging for them,” said Still. “Specifically, leaves should cool below air temperature at higher temperatures, typically greater than 25 or 30 degrees Celsius. That theory also implies that the impact of climate warming on forests will be partially mitigated by the leaves’ cooling response.”
Still and collaborators used thermal imaging to look at canopy-leaf temperature at numerous well-instrumented sites in North America and Central America—from Panamanian rain forest to the high-elevation tree line in Colorado—and found that canopy leaves do not consistently cool below daytime air temperatures or remain within a narrow temperature range as predicted by the limited leaf homeothermy theory.
The thermal cameras were mounted on towers equipped with systems that measure carbon, water and energy “fluxes”—exchanges between the forest and atmosphere—as well as a host of environmental variables.
“Using high-frequency, continuous thermal imaging to monitor forest canopies really changes what we can learn about how forests are dealing with the stress of rising temperatures,” said Andrew Richardson, a professor at Northern Arizona University and a co-author of the study. “Before thermal cameras, if you wanted to measure canopy temperature you had to stick thermocouples to leaves with Band-Aids and wait until the wind pulled them off. But these cameras let us measure change 24 hours a day, seven days a week, across many seasons and years.”
The study showed that canopy leaves warm faster than air, are warmer than air during most of the day and only cool below air temperature in mid- to late-afternoon. Future climate warming is likely to lead to even greater canopy leaf temperatures, which would negatively impact forest carbon cycling and enhance forest mortality risk, the scientists say.
“Leaf temperature has long been recognized as important for plant function because of its influence on carbon metabolism and water and energy exchanges,” Still said. “If canopy photosynthesis declines with increasing temperature, the ability of forests to act as a carbon sink will be reduced.”
Leaf temperature in different habitats is affected by how leaf size varies with climate and latitude as well as canopy structure, Still explains. Large leaves occur primarily in warm and wet climates, and leaf traits like higher reflectance and smaller sizes, which enhance the ability to shed heat and lead to greater cooling, occur mainly in plants growing in hot, dry areas.
In much of the warm, wet tropics, leaf temperature is already approaching or surpassing thresholds for positive net photosynthesis—the carbon fixation rate minus the rate of carbon dioxide lost during plant respiration.
“If leaves are generally warmer than the surrounding air, as our findings suggest, trees may be approaching critical thresholds of temperature stress faster than we expect,” Richardson said.
“Our results have big implications for understating how plants acclimate to warming, and they suggest a limited ability for canopy leaves to regulate their temperature,” Still added. “Our data and analyses suggest a warming climate will result in even higher canopy leaf temperatures, likely leading to reduction of carbon assimilation capacity and eventually heat damage.”
“The 20-Dollar Art Show” Returns to the High Desert Museum
BEND, OR — An organic, local art show returns for its second year to the High Desert Museum, and this year promises to be the largest one yet. The 20-Dollar Art Show launches at the Museum on Friday, October 28 with an opening night art-buying party. Tickets go on sale for the popular event on Friday, September 23 at 9:00 am.
The 20-Dollar Art Show is a celebration of local art and features thousands of original artworks covering the gallery walls of the High Desert Museum. Artwork is not bigger than 36 square inches, and every piece costs $20. Participants can select and pay for their favorite artwork, taking it home opening night through Monday, October 31 at 5:00 pm.
Bright Place Gallery in Bend, owned by Stuart Breidenstein and Abby Dubief, debuted The 20-Dollar Art Show in fall 2013 as an opportunity for artists to share their work with the public in a low-pressure setting where they could build confidence selling art. The Gallery did not take a commission. The artists kept 100 percent of sales and the art show was a success for all.
By 2019, the annual show grew to display more than 2,100 pieces of art from 120 local and regional artists, amateur and professional. On opening night, 900 pieces sold in three hours for $20 each. Like many beloved events, the COVID-19 pandemic put the brakes on the thriving local art show. This year, the exhibit and sale will feature over 3,000 pieces of local artwork.
“After the success of last year’s show at the Museum, we are excited to continue the partnership,” said Bright Place Gallery owner Stuart Breidenstein. “Artist submissions skyrocketed this year, and the Museum allows us the opportunity to welcome more creators, making the exhibit bigger and better.”
At this year’s opening event on Friday, October 28 from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm, participants will enter the High Desert Museum through the large meadow. The snaking line will work its way into the Museum where participants can view and have the opportunity to purchase artwork. The event takes place the Friday before Halloween and participants are encouraged to wear costumes. Participants should come prepared for the elements, rain or shine.
“This event stewarded by Bright Place Gallery is a unique opportunity to connect to the regional art community,” said Museum Executive Director Dana Whitelaw, Ph.D. “It’s also an opportunity for us to turn our walls over to new artists, allowing them to find a voice and an audience.”
Art will be available for purchase through Monday, October 31 at 5:00 pm. Each $20 piece directly supports the artist.
Tickets for The 20-Dollar Art Show Opening Night Partyare available beginning Friday, September 23 at 9:00 am at highdesertmuseum.org/20-dollar-art-show-2022. Tickets are $5 person and guests 16 and younger are free. Space is limited. The 20-Dollar Art Show closes Monday, October 31.
ABOUT THE MUSEUM:
The HIGH DESERT MUSEUM opened in Bend, Oregon in 1982. It brings together wildlife, cultures, art, history and the natural world to convey the wonder of North America’s High Desert. The Museum is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, is a Smithsonian Affiliate, was the 2019 recipient of the Western Museums Association’s Charles Redd Award for Exhibition Excellence and was a 2021 recipient of the National Medal for Museum and Library Service. To learn more, visit highdesertmuseum.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
This is just a small compilation of missing women and their pictures in the area. There are of course women missing all over Oregon and men and children missing too. We don’t mean to dismiss that, however, there is an inordinate amount of women who go missing each week and there could possibly be a connection with an anomaly or two here and there. Sadly most of them never get any attention. Family and friends must keep any information going and lead investigations so that they aren’t just forgotten.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Have-You-Seen-Me-Southern-Oregons-Missing-People-161249961222839/posts/
