Sisters visits the White House

Kathy Deggendorfer is no stranger to rubbing elbows with some of the most interesting people in this country. Through her family's business, Columbia Sportswear, and their many philanthropic endeavors, Deggendorfer has enjoyed the company of all kinds of people, including an evening at the Kennedy Center with Eunice and Sarge Shriver.

Now, she can add another interesting story to her list: being invited to a White House party by Laura Bush.

"We stayed in the Willard Hotel, which was an amazing place," said Deggendorfer. "Martin Luther King wrote his, 'I Have a Dream' speech there and the Battle Hymn of the Republic was written there too." The Hotel was located right next to the White House, where she enjoyed an evening of socializing with White House staff and all the artists who were chosen to represent their state and congressional districts.

Deggendorfer was chosen by Senator Gordon Smith to be the official artist for the State of Oregon's Christmas tree ornament. Her participation also included an invitation from Laura Bush's social secretary to attend a party on December 2. She invited her sister Sally Bany to be her guest.

"She was the perfect person to go with," said Deggendorfer. "She loves to meet people and she's not afraid to try anything."

The two sisters took lots of photos during the party and had a great time investigating different White House rooms full of antique furniture and art. Deggendorfer found the White House staff very accommodating and willing to let people really enjoy themselves.

"They let us sit in the antique chairs and get right up to amazing historical pieces. She especially enjoyed the portraits of many of the previous First Ladies, including Eleanor Roosevelt," she said. "I even took a quick look through the library. I was curious to see what kind of books they read."

When Deggendorfer and Bany arrived it was obvious there were more ornaments than there are states.

"We didn't realize it until we got there, but along with artists chosen to represent their state, there were also ornaments from each state's congressional district," said Deggendorfer.

There were several Christmas trees in the rooms where the party was held and Deggendorfer found her ornament in the Blue Room, on the centerpiece tree featuring all the state's official ornaments.

"The tree was 18 feet tall and extremely wide," she said. "It took all of us a long time to find our ornaments. It was fun to hear artist's reactions when they finally found their contributions."

In June, when Deggendorfer learned she'd been chosen to represent Oregon, she took on the project with gusto. Her task was to characterize the unique patriotic spirit of her state. When the nine-inch ball arrived in July, she had to overcome the task of painting a silver, shiny ball with watercolor.

She sanded off the metallic surface and created a surface that could accept paint. With help from her friend Kimry Jelen, Deggendorfer was able to recreate her signature watercolor look using acrylic materials.

She decided her subject matter should be the abundance of foods that are produced in our state along with a view from each side of the Cascade Range. Her idea worked well with the theme for this year's White House Christmas: Red, White and Blue Christmas. The finished ornament was abundantly adorned with all kinds of fruit including blueberries, strawberries, marionberries and grapes along with rural landscapes and the Cascade Range.

"I have been working on an Oregon specialty farms project for a couple of years and I wanted to showcase our amazing agricultural artists; farmers who have such a great love of the land that their harvest is truly a work of art. It's almost an annual painting," she said.

To give herself the opportunity to experiment with materials new to her, Deggendorfer painted two ornaments. She sent off the official one to the White House at the end of September and kept the other to decorate her art studio. The second ornament has a few differences from the official one. Deggendorfer couldn't resist adding a small picture of herself peeking out of the berries. She also painted Barack Obama with a Christmas hat snuggled up against some strawberries and blueberries.

Always an arts advocate, Deggendorfer used her time in D.C. to campaign for more Arts in Central Oregon and more specifically Sisters.

"Judy Trego, who works for Congressman Greg Walden (R-OR), lined up a congressional tour and a meeting with Walden," she said.

She discussed public art in Sisters and the possibility for Oregon artists to have their work displayed in the Capitol. She also visited the Torpedo Factory, which was one of her main inspirations when she set up the Sisters Art Works building. She and her husband, Frank, purchased the building from the City of Sisters and transformed it into a venue for all kinds of arts-oriented businesses.

Deggendorfer returned to Sisters energized and excited about continuing her campaign to promote the arts in Sisters. Once again, she's done a great job representing Sisters and telling the town's unique story of promoting arts, music education and commerce.