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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 2018)
4 Wednesday, April 25, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Navajo painter to visit Sisters PHOTO BY STEVE TAGUE FAN Advocate Dawn Cooper of Sisters spoke at the annual FAN luncheon fundraiser. FAN raises $111,000 to help families The Family Access Network (FAN) Foundation held their 12th annual lun- cheon fundraiser in Bend on April 13 at Pilot Butte Middle School.The event, which had over 250 guests, raised $111,446 for FAN through sponsorships, indi- vidual donations and a donor match. The donor match was a part of FAN’s luncheon this year in an effort to inspire more guests to become monthly donors, also known as FAN Club members. As a result, the number of monthly donors to FAN doubled. The luncheon title spon- sor, Hoodoo Recreation, and other event sponsors were also key to helping FAN reach their fundraising goal. These funds will provide crucial FAN services for underprivileged children and family members who live in Deschutes and Crook coun- ties. FAN advocates work directly in the schools to con- nect children and their fami- lies to essential basic needs. “FAN provides a broad set of services, delivered to families right in the schools,” said Valerie Yost, FAN Foundation Board Chair. “One of the aspects that makes our luncheon so pow- erful is the opportunity for donors to be in a school set- ting, an experiential rep- resentation of FAN’s mis- sion: to improve lives by ensuring that local children have access to basic-need services. On behalf of the FAN luncheon committee, we’d like to thank all of the amazing donors, sponsors and event table captains for their incredible sup- port of local children and families.” FAN launched in January 1993 and currently employs 25 advocates in 52 public schools (K-12) and early childhood sites in Deschutes and Crook counties. For more information about the Family Access N e t w o r k , v i s i t w w w. familyaccessnetwork.org or call 541-693-5675. Sisters FAN office is located in the Sisters School District Administration build- ing. Call 541-549-0155. Smile, Sisters! We’re committed to your dental health! Exceptional Health, Prevention & Aesthetics For Your Family! Trevor Frideres d.m.d. Ben Crockett, d.d.s. p 541-549-9486 f 541-549-9110 410 E. Cascade Ave. • P.O. Box 1027 • Sisters Hours: Mon., 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Tues.-Wed., 8 a.m.-4 p.m.; Thurs., 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Jason Parrish grew up in rural western New Mexico, the oldest son in a ranching family, and learned to ride a horse before entering school. Thirty years later, Jason still rides, but he spends more time including these steeds in his award-winning paintings than he does in the saddle. Parrish will be in Sisters for the Fourth Friday Art Stroll weekend starting Friday, April 27. His works will be on display at Raven Makes Gallery, the only gal- lery in the United States offer- ing his works. Reading, another lifelong passion for Parrish, com- menced with the encyclope- dia set of his grandmother, which first exposed him to the world beyond his own. It was in these great books of knowledge that the young boy first saw the Italian Medieval Period paintings that would become influences of his own works. Books and curiosity led Jason to a solid public- education foundation, cul- minating in a B.S. from the University of New Mexico 10 years ago. A passage he recently wrote about his life captures both of these lifelong endeavors: “I learned to ride horses before I could read about them. My family owned American Quarter Horses as they are best suited to ranch life. ‘Cow ponies’ as they are sometimes referred to are excellent work partners in gathering and chasing down unruly stock. They’re generally short and stocky in size compared to the elegance of a long limbed, slender thoroughbred horse. Their temperament is suited to chil- dren and novices. At age 25, I bought my first thoroughbred horse and brought him home to the excitement of everyone. He was big, beautiful, and moved like a ballet dancer. It was then that I discovered that horses are not always even- tempered, easy going, gentle partners. “This horse was a bully. It took months for us to get along. He bumped me while in lead and while grooming. He bit the farrier. And it was aboard this horse I found out what sitting on a runaway horse felt like. “The power of this ani- mal is something to marvel. I felt helpless and fear. A fear that one wrong move on my part would make him jump while at full speed, causing me to be flung into the air and slammed to the ground, or him tripping and rolling on me. In this wild, uncontrolled circumstance, I learned that, like a Quarter Horse, this was what he was suited to—run- ning. He was not purposely being bad. Rather, I was back in class, becoming aware of a creature’s habit, learning to ride horses in a different way. “We still have him and he’s my best friend now. After putting in lots and lots of work, Bay became accus- tomed to his environment and is a well-mannered horse that loves frosted oatmeal cookies and red Gatorade. But only as treats!” The American Southwest’s sweeping, high-elevation ter- rain annually cycles through with sun-baked summers, the dust storms of autumn or spring, and deeply cold winter nights. The People that Jason was born into arrived at their lands a millennium ago, speak a language that is understood from Interior Alaska to the desert Southwest, and hold numerous ceremonies and chants that include nine-day Beauty Way Ceremonies dur- ing wintertime, which are conducted primarily at night. Jason’s family lives beside the southern end of the Chuska Mountains, located near the New Mexico-Arizona state line. They instilled in their kin the understanding that success follows a sustained and dedi- cated commitment to hard work, a particularly important trait in the lifeway of the Dine people. Parrish’s painting career began just eight years ago as a meditative exercise. In February of 2018, his works depicting the Dine in their finest moments of tradi- tional attire were part of a renowned, juried art show at the Grand Palais, on the Champs Elysees in Paris. Jason, being a speaker of French, Navajo, and English, had no issues understanding the application form. The location of the water- color and drawing exhibition See PARRISH on page 32 6TH ANNUAL “Friond and Fund” Raisor Lunchoon WEDNESDAY, MAY 2 12-1 PM AT THE BELFRY 302 E. MAIN AVE. circlooff riondsorogon.org To rosorvo a spaco, call 541-588-6445 Transforming Lives…One Child at a Time! Premier Business Partner — Supporting Business Partner — Circle of Friends is a 501(c)(3) nonprofi t organization
