Month: May 2025

Cami Porter

BEND, Ore. –(KTVZ)– Puppies frolicked and played in the courtyard of the Whispering Winds retirement community today. The people at this assisted living center got a visit from puppies hosted by the local dog rescue group Street Dog Hero, but this visit was not just a fun day for the dogs, nor just a treat for the residents. Street Dog Hero was there to say thank you to a group of knitters from Whispering Winds who’ve been making and donating blankets for the dogs.

Sue Edgerton, a resident of Whispering Winds told KTVZ news “We love making them. We don’t know what they look like after the dogs drag them around for a while, but we love giving them and we have fun talking and getting together and knitting or crocheting.”

Street Dog Hero recently took in several new puppies from Madras and from Oklahoma. All the puppies who visited Whispering Winds are available for adoption.

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Barney Lerten

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — The High Desert Museum invites visitors to experience the culmination of a yearlong program that dove into the diverse perspectives of wildfire in Central Oregon. Explore the artistic voices of young students in Kids Curate, open now through Sunday, June 1.

Every year, Kids Curate integrates art, science and history into classrooms and field-trip experiences with one Central Oregon elementary school over the course of the school year. The program culminates in an exhibition created by the students on the Museum’s walls. Caregivers and families celebrate the students’ work at an exhibition opening event.

“Students engage with the topic deeply through hands-on experiences to better understand many viewpoints throughout the year,” said Bonnie Lee and Oliver P. Steele III Curator of Education and Engagement Molly Wilmoth. “We’re grateful to partner with the educators at a school to provide this intensive and in-depth learning experience.”

Third and fourth graders from La Pine Elementary School participated in this year’s project. Months of learning have culminated in a series of artworks.

Each of the students’ canvases depicts a unique perspective on wildfire, a phenomenon of particular interest after last year’s Darlene 3 fire in their community. With the help of Museum educators, La Pine teachers and experts, the students explored our complicated relationship with fire in the High Desert.

As a result, more than 100 pieces of art will adorn the walls of the Desertarium Gallery at the Museum. The exhibition is an external representation of the internal process.

Museum educators first met with the students in October 2024 and continued to meet with them every other week. Through different educational disciplines – from science and art to social studies and history – the students learned about wildfire on the landscape and then translated those perspectives into art. This ranged from fire as a threat to fire as a helpful, natural process. Their new understandings of fire are highlighted through the exhibition.

As part of the Kids Curate program, the Museum included two outside voices to help the students in their yearlong learning. Ariel Cowan, regional fire specialist with the Oregon State University Extension Service, helped the students explore fire as both scientists and community members. She took part in the students’ field trip to the Museum in late February 2025, providing information on how fires can damage structures in a community but also spur new forest growth.

Artist Jake Kenobi, also known as Spring Break Jake, visited La Pine Elementary three times during the year to share his techniques with the students. From how he creates his artwork to the incorporation of feelings and emotions onto the canvas, Kenobi invited the students to see fire as more than just heat and combustion.

After gathering materials in the forest at the Museum, Kenobi assisted students in creating “studio potions.” Acrylic paint supplemented with pinecone bits, soil, pine needles and manzanita leaves adorn the canvases on display.

In addition, Kids Curate provides participating students with the pride of publicly and prominently displaying their artwork and the tools needed to continue their artistic practice.

More information about the Kids Curate program can be found at highdesertmuseum.org/kids-curate.

The 2025 Kids Curate program and exhibition is made possible by The Bloomfield Family Foundation, Braemar Charitable Trust/Trust Management Services LLC, the Chambers Family Foundation, the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, the PGE Foundation and the Oregon Arts Commission. Additional support comes from Bennington Properties.

ABOUT THE MUSEUM:

THE HIGH DESERT MUSEUM opened in Bend, Oregon in 1982. It brings together wildlife, cultures, art, history and the natural world to convey the wonder of North America’s High Desert. The Museum is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, is a Smithsonian Affiliate, was the 2019 recipient of the Western Museums Association’s Charles Redd Award for Exhibition Excellence and was a 2021 recipient of the National Medal for Museum and Library Service. To learn more, visit highdesertmuseum.org and follow us on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram.

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Claire Elmer

(Update: Adding video)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build Week is not just an event — it’s a movement to showcase the vital roles women play in their communities. 

Bend-Redmond Habitat’s Women Build Week event is being held at one of their newest build sites in the area Daly Estates, which includes nine townhouses.

In response to a mostly unmet need, they are offering one- and four-bedroom homes; two- and three-bedroom homes have been typical in their other neighborhoods.  

Habitat hopes to not only bring light to the disparities women face, but assist in a solution. With 75% of Habitat homeowners being single mothers, this week hopes to encourage equity and recognition.

“We have over a hundred volunteers out here this week. It’s also an education and empowerment event … the majority of our construction staff is a woman-led construction team,” said Bend-Redmond Habitat for Humanity CEO Carly Colgan.

Women aren’t just building the homes – they’re buying them. Seven of the nine homebuyers in the Daly Estates neighborhood are households led by women. 

The event intends to shed light on issues women typically face when trying to get into homeownership. Lower wages than their male counterparts and higher rejection rates for obtaining a mortgage are two of the major obstacles. 

Volunteers have the opportunity for hands-on training alongside professional construction workers. To help fuel motivation, powerful messages and stories of resilience were shared during a crew lunch break. 

“We can build homes. We can build opportunity. And most importantly, we can build hope,” said Colgan.  

One of the future homeowners was also present, saying: “I’m so grateful that Habitat chose to partner with me and my family. That is the biggest blessing. And thank you so much for all of you that are here.”

For many of the volunteers, it’s also an opportunity to find connection and meaning in the work.

Volunteer Laura Voisinet said, “It’s so great to meet other women who want to join up with you, and you make friends by the end of the day. And to meet face-to-face the people’s lives that you’re helping to change – you want to keep coming back and doing that some more.”

Continuing to work through rainy and windy conditions, the dedication of those involved has been apparent. This week’s event has been a shining example of one of the messages Habitat hopes to spread — “Strong women build strong communities.”

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