Sisters will ‘Make Time’ for art this weekend

Folks in Sisters will gather to celebrate art and community during this weekend’s My Own Two Hands ‘Make Time’ Art Stroll and Art Party and Auction.

Shops and businesses all around town will play host to clock-themed works of art from professional artists and local students in an Art Stroll on Friday, April 8. (See related story, page 9).

The stroll will culminate in a “Benefit Chili Feed and Performance Evening” at Bronco Billy’s Ranch Grill & Saloon.

On Saturday evening, Ponderosa Forge will host an art party and auction, where bidders from all around Oregon will purchase artworks, with proceeds going toward the Americana Project and art programs in Sisters schools. The Bond Brothers willprovide musical highlights.

While the event supports other arts events and activities in Sisters, it is really a celebration in its own right.

Kathy Deggendorfer, who has led arts fund-raisers for the past four years in Sisters, noted that an unexpected benefit of staging these events was the way they bring artists together.

“A lot of times, artists in Sisters work in an environment that is kind of isolated,” she said.

By bringing them together to work in their own style on a common theme — painted guitars, kites and, this year, clocks — they discover new connections in the community and stretch their own creativity, Deggendorgfer said.

Since this year’s theme “Make Time” involved a clock motif, project organizers enlisted the support of Ed and Kathi Beacham of Sisters Clock Co.

Ed Beacham is internationally recognized as one of the most respected artisans working in his functional-art field and he lent his expertise in helping other artists make their own work functional.

“A lot of the artists said the best thing they got out of (the project) was getting to work with Ed and Kathi Beacham,” Deggendorfer said.

While the event is designed to be a celebration, it’s fund-raising success has been significant.

“Last year’s My Own Two Hands event raised over $45,000 and provided funding for many wonderful projects including funds for art supplies, art advocacy and support for the parent-run Art Literacy programming in the elementary school,” Deggendorfer reported.

The proceeds funded “new instruments scaled to the smaller child and a regular weekly guitar program in the elementary school. We funded a wonderful and ambitious Americana class in the middle school taught by Kit Stafford. We bought new Breedlove guitars and provided Interim week guitar classes for the middle school. We supplied much needed funding for the Sisters Middle School Art Club taught by Nancy Scharf.”

The Art Stroll kicks off on Friday, April 8, at 4:30 p.m. The Chili Feed begins at 6:30 p.m. at Bronco Billy’s. Tickets for the Chili Feed are $10 each ($5 for children 12 and under) and can be purchased at Paulina Springs Books and Sisters Feed & Supply in Sisters.

Tickets for the Saturday art party must be purchased in advance and are available by calling the Sisters Folk Festival Office at 549-4979.