Sisters Folk Festival to unveil 2015 poster

Dennis McGregor's annual poster for the Sisters Folk Festival has become an artistic focal point as compelling as any song. McGregor will unveil his 2015 poster image at a special event at Clearwater Gallery/The Open Door on Tuesday, March 3.

The event is part of The Open Door wine bar and bistro's Dine for a Cause program. Each month a different nonprofit organization is featured and receives 10 percent of the gross receipts for every Tuesday of the month. The Sisters Folk Festival is the featured nonprofit for March.

The event runs from 4 to 6 p.m. at the gallery located at 303 W. Hood Ave.

McGregor and festival Creative Director Brad Tisdel will also provide some live music for the event.

McGregor described the poster that will first be seen at the gallery event: "It features songbirds from all around the country," he said. "Which is what happens with the Sisters Folk Festival: For 20 years, songbirds from all around the country have migrated to Sisters."

This is the second festival poster to feature wildlife. Last year's poster, featuring a hipster mule deer buck, was a big hit.

"I was a little apprehensive about what other folks might think of it, because we'd done people up to that point," McGregor acknowledged. "To my surprise, people were delighted by it."

Creating a very popular iconic image like "Buck" is a two-edged sword. It's gratifying of course - but it puts pressure on the artist.

"The challenge is - and it drives me crazy - is that I want every one to be better than the year before."

The best route to get there is to do something different.

"Don't expect anything based on what you've seen so far," the artist said.

The official event poster won't be available for a while yet, as the festival is still booking acts, all of which will be listed on the poster. Patrons won't go home empty handed though. There will be a small flyer with the new image available at the unveiling.

"People will walk away with a little handbill that looks like the poster with the acts so far," McGregor said.