Tag: High Desert Museum

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Gray Skies

Winter’s approach stripped the Aspen of leaves

The pall of rain moved in this week  .  .  .  literally. But then clear skies returned. That’s a given in Central Oregon. 

For the most part, we kept busy this week with indoor activities.

We managed to make it to an interesting lecture on misinformation at the local library.

Plus, we spent a few hours walking around the High Desert Museum  .  .  .  both brightened the rainy days that made up most of the week.

We never get tired of watching the otters play.

There’s a space of time as we wait for winter to come on full snow  .  .  .  a seasonal shift.

This image is from a multi-media display on water  .  .  .  it was fascinating.

Sheltered under gray sky and surrounded by puddles, the period is brief but still dampens one’s spirit.

A water feature runs throughout the grounds surrounding the High Desert Museum.

Fall’s brilliant color displays are dulled with the arrival of winter’s rain.

The sky did clear, but only after depositing a layer of snow. Winter seems early this year, but as with any seasonal shift, we’ll adapt.

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The Art of Resilience

Frosted Aspen grove

High Desert seasons can bring extremes. Here in the shadow of the Cascades, we experience frequent weather changes. Within days of a snowfall, our sky can clear to a brilliant blue, ensuring even lower temperatures for the next few days.

We monitor the weather on a daily basis, and more so when heading out on an outing.

Interior of High Desert Museum

So now we find the day is sunny, dry . . . and cold. In this weather interval we visit places that offer relief from the chill. A regular spot on a winter’s day is the Oregon High Desert Museum.

The traveling exhibit that caught our interest, this fall, deals with disaster and homelessness.  A day pass, which can be checked out online from the Library, makes it practical to take in a single exhibit.

A desert tortoise, a porcupine and a family of otters usually get our attention. But there are regularly changed exhibit spaces, as well as an art installation in the lobby gallery which are often worth checking out. Online and emailed monthly newsletters alert us to interesting shows.

Floating emergency shelter to use in floods and tsunamis. Pod converts sea water to fresh drinking water.

This Fall they filled a gallery with concepts on Survival Architecture. This traveling exhibit came from a California nonprofit who asked artists and designers to offer solutions to a growing worldwide housing problem.

The fact that homelessness has been trending in the news is only part of it. Making use and re-use of materials was also a major theme.

 

“Cardborigami” from recycled cardboard is big enough for two people to sleep and can be folded small enough to carry.

As part of the project to make lightweight structures “Cardborigami” designer Tina Hovsepian offers a four step path out of homelessness. Something Oregon’s new Governor might want to visit.

    1. Provide participants with immediate shelter and privacy/ownership
    2. Provide connections to services and tools to re-integrate people into society
    3. Provide permanent housing
    4. Help individuals sustain housing through jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities.

There were lots of interesting design concepts around ocean and water based structures. Another used the biomimetic principles of a spruce cone to design self opening window ports.

On a more practical note Chilean architect, Alejandro Aravena offers, what I consider a brilliant concept.

“If there isn’t the money to build everyone a good houses why not build everyone half a good house … and let them finish the rest themselves”

Customizing a shelter to personal needs makes these cookie cutter buildings seem more like a home . . . giving value to the housed, as well as the homeless.

Cricket Shelter, a modular insect farm

The High Desert Museum is always a great spot to spark some discussion around nature, art and environment.

On top of being a warm and inviting, the museum is set on 135 acres of High Desert plateau which you can explore even on a cold December day.

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War Time Sketches

We try to make it over to the High Desert Museum at least once a quarter, which is how often they change out exhibitis.

The most recent one is a collect of journal drawing from a Japanese internee and it was extremely interesting. A totally unique look at the shameful treatment our government pushed on American’s of asian descent during the second world war.

Takuichi Jujii was an art student in Seattle at the beginning of the war when his family was ‘relocated’ to a camp in Central Washington state. through the duration of his inprisonment he filled sketchbooks and portfolios with views of life in the camp. this exhibit is a selection of that work that illustrates the life of the ‘interned.’

Mixed in with porcupines, otters, and a 1904 ranch and saw mill are these currated pieces of history and art that really make the High Desert Museum a treasure.

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Water Management & First Foods

On those rare occasions when faced with a rainy day the High Desert Museum is a great destination. Critters to check on and the quarterly installation to take in. We’re becoming big fans of this Central Oregon cultural center.

The museum’s curated projects go beyond the boundaries of their exhibit space set on 135 acres south of Bend. One of these events is a lecture series held at McMenamins Old St. Francis School.

The Natural History Pub Series presents lectures on a wide range of topics including: animal behavior, natural resource restoration, and geological activity…all set in a very unclassroom–like setting.

This past week we learned about “First Foods Management with a River Vision.” Eric Quaempts, Director of Natural Resources for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, spoke about a unique approach to water management and natural resource development. His department makes decisions based on the concept of water being a First Food; water, fish, game, roots and berries.

As frequent stream visitors, his detailed presentation on Umatilla River restoration projects was particularly interesting. The basic idea that a riparian is the river resonated with us.

Quaempts management plan doesn’t exclude or attempt to minimize man from the natural resource equation. Rather it places us right in the middle of managing our environment, which now that he says it makes perfect sense.

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Trip to the Museum

This late winter dump of snow put a stop to regular day trips. However, the La Pine Library has passes to local attractions so you don’t have to pay the entrance fee…cool.

Started in the early 80’s, the High Desert Museum serves as an educational center to “… explore the historic and contemporary relationship between people and landscape.”

Burrowing owls

The permanent exhibits are fine (but ‘been there, done that). So, we take a stroll by the Hollen Atrium to see the porcupine and bobcat. Then we head into the Desertarium, where the desert tortoise and burrowing owls reside. Depending on the time of day, there are also wildlife demonstrations, though we seem to keep missing the river otter feeding. That’s a priority for our next visit.

Nevada Bumble Bee by April Coppini

Once we’ve checked in on the critters, we can spend some time with the “changing exhibit.”  This week they just installed ‘The Beauty of Wild Things: Charcoal drawings by April Coppini.” Coppini is a Portland based artist that does exceptional gestural charcoal on paper. We really like the bumble bee series.

It’s called a museum, but they have more than a dozen sites along a meandering system of trails that take you into the environment. The Raptors presentation, Otter exhibit and Birds of Prey center are all really interesting, even encased in a layer of snow.