Barclay Park sculpture to be dedicated Dec. 8

Sisters will celebrate the newest addition to its public art collection on Saturday, December 8, at 2 p.m.

The 10-foot-tall sculpture shows a bronze heron ready to lift off from a basalt column. The sculpture was created by local artist Danae Bennett Miller in honor of Elizabeth Dasch, who died in 2009. Dasch was an artist and an original homebuilder at Black Butte Ranch, who later moved to Sisters.

Dasch's three grown children donated $25,000 toward the sculpture and are traveling from three states to attend the dedication. Dasch was an artist who enjoyed painting wildflowers. She brought watercolors on family camping trips to the Metolius River.

Dasch, who died at age 97, was one of the artists who participated in Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects at Timberline Lodge. Her contribution was a botanical watercolor of a Mt. Hood lily. Dasch's mother, Julia Hoffman, founded the Arts and Crafts Society of Portland, now named the Oregon College of Art and Craft.

Additional funds for the sculpture came from Dasch's friends, The Roundhouse Foundation, and the City of Sisters.

Miller, a long-time Central Oregon artist, is known for her large bronze sculptures including three in Bend's public spaces. She created this sculpture from 70 pieces of bronze welded together around a stainless steel skeleton using the lost-wax method. Miller is a member of the collective gallery Tumalo Art Co. in Bend's Old Mill District, where she shows her smaller sculptures and prints. She has been featured on OPB's Oregon Art Beat.