В Бэнде пройдет ежегодная выставка высокого искусства Art in the High Desert

Art in the High Desert returns to Bend Published 5:00 pm Tuesday, August 25, 2026 Several thousand Bendites and art enthusiasts from across the country are set to attend Central Oregon’s juried art and craft show, Art in the High Desert, over the weekend at Riverbend Park in Bend. The show runs from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30. To ease the parking nightmare, a free shuttle will run all weekend to and from Mt. Bachelor Park & Ride at 1000 SW Bradbury Way and the show. Art in the High Desert started almost 20 years ago in Bend to showcase high-end fine art from hundreds of artists nationwide, Executive Director Steve Provence said. This year five jurors — gallery owners and people in the art community — chose from 500 artist applications. “It’s the only show of its kind in Central Oregon of this caliber,” Provence continued. “It is a very select few of artists from around the country who are the best at what they do.” For some artists, Bend is just one stop in a monthlong tour of leading art shows around the Northwest. “It’s a true fine art festival,” Provence said. “What we’re trying to do is bring a really high-level fine art festival to Bend once a year that can really showcase some enormous talent from across the country.” The show formerly took place across from the Old Mill District near Hayden Homes Amphitheater for over 10 years until COVID hit. After a hiatus due to the pandemic, the show returned to Redmond for a year and then moved to Riverbend Park two years ago. This year, the show will feature 125 artists from across the country, including 10 local to Bend or Redmond. Provence mentioned Danae Bennett Miller, who has participated in every Art in the High Desert show since its inception — apart from last year’s, which she missed for her son’s wedding. “She is a really unique, special Central Oregon artist,” Provence said. “She’s been involved with us since day one and she is a Central Oregon powerhouse, if there ever was one.” Bennett Miller moved to Bend in 1994 and has been a sculptor for over 40 years. She has five local, public pieces including “Bueno Homage to the Buckaroo” on Newport Street and Ninth Avenue in Bend and the life-sized elk and three antelope at the roundabout on Highway 20 and Barclay Drive in Sisters. She will have both sculptures and prints for sale during the show. “My artwork is centered around nature and animals are my inspiration,” she said. “It’s celebrating the beauty of what we have in front of us, and expressing the variation and diversity of how beautiful our wildlife is in Oregon.” She works in her studio in Tumalo, surrounded by her farm and a ranch where she and her husband raise cattle, sheep and chickens. “I always have animals around me to observe and live with, and so I’m translating my experience with animals into my artwork,” Bennett Miller continued. “Even in a suburban area like Tumalo, I’ll have a herd of elk come in my backyard as well as deer, coyotes, mountain lions, hawks and eagles.” More local artists to show their work Bend native and ceramics artist Heidi Weiss Hoffman will feature her hand-built vases, lamps, mugs, pottery and wall art for the first time at the show. She grew up in Bend and attended the first show in 2008. “I was really blown away the first time I had gone by the caliber of artistry and the really beautiful work that was being represented,” Weiss Hoffman said. “Over the years it’s continued, and it’s a really surreal process in my evolution as an artist to actually be a part of the show now.” She continued, “I’m building and creating bigger work, and this show has been an inspiration to do that.” Dustin Smith, who has lived in Bend for five years, creates abstract, geometric art that explores “impermanence” through erosion and layers. Last year was his first time being featured in the show. For his second year, he said he will showcase pieces that represent Bend’s abundant pine trees and are inspired by actual trees around the city. He starts his art process by breaking down an object or concept into a blueprint of rectangles. Then, he paints the rectangles and removes them with water, leaving marks of color. “It’s really a visualization of creation and destruction,” Smith said. “And when you look at the pieces, they are remnants of what was once there. It symbolizes our lives and how they are temporary.” Smith described the show as an art gallery rather than a street fair. “As opposed to other ways that people experience artwork, you get to meet the artists one on one, ask them any questions and interview them in a way to make sure that you want their work on your walls,” he said. “It’s a cool way to speed date with artists to an extent, to be able to select work that you love, but also support artists that you believe in and connect with.” If You Go What: Art in the High Desert 2026 When: 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30 Where: Riverbend Park, Bend Cost: Free Contact: [email protected]