Wednesday, September 9, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
PUBLIC ART: Building
owner is a supporter
of Sisters community
Continued from page 9
of wildlife including owl,
elk, horse, Steller9s jay, but-
terfly, Western tanager and
Roufus hummingbird. The
background color is brick, to
match the lower color of the
building, which is otherwise
teal.
The artists both live in
Bend, though Katie Daisy,
a writer and illustrator, is
looking to move to Sisters.
They9ve been friends with
Kelley Rae for 10 years,
which is why Kelley Rae
chose them to design and
paint this mural.
Katie grew up on a small
family farm in northern
Illinois, the closest town
home to just 500 people.
After art school in Minnesota,
she traveled the country, set-
tling down for a spell in
Weaverville, N.C., in the
Great Smokey Mountains.
Katie9s book, <How to Be a
Wildflower,= is all about self-
discovery through encoun-
ters with nature, and includes
prompts to inspire creativ-
ity and wellbeing. It9s avail-
able at Kelly Rae9s shop, and
online. Katie eventually made
her way to Bend, where she
lives with her six-year-old
son, Finn. As a full-time art-
ist and mom, she designs cal-
endars, year planners, note
cards, and product labels,
featuring trees and colorful
flowers, and decorative hand
lettering.
Karen Eland9s work is
more realistic, and includes
animals, wildlife, and trees.
Her unique paintings, made
with beer (porters and stouts)
and coffee, look like sepia
toned images in a semi-real-
istic style. She has a studio
and store at The Workhouse
in Bend, where she9s done
several murals including the
Foxtail Bakeshop and Oregon
Spirit Distillers.
Both artists also have
shops on Etsy.com.
<I had a lovely vision,=
said Kelly Rae. <I thought
Katie and Karen9s work
would be perfect for that
wall.= She approached build-
ing owners Dana and Nancy
Bratton, got their approval,
and together they received
approval from the City of
Sisters. <It9s a really lovely
complement to the store, and
the street, with its art and gal-
leries,= she said.
So inspired was Kelly Rae
that she decided to rebrand
her shop, while it was still
new.
<After being open for
a little over a month, I9ve
decided to change my new
shop name from SoulShine
& Co. to Marigold & True.
It turns out that many peo-
ple think Soulshine is a
shoe store (Soul = Sole) and
apparently there9s a pretty
popular band that uses the
name SoulShine,= Kelley Rae
wrote on her Facebook page.
<I figure we9d better
change it now while we9re
still pretty new. I like how
Marigold still has the yellow,
sunshiny vibe of SoulShine,
yet has the sweet sort of flow-
ery southern, vintage touch
and feel that I9m after. And
True is my kiddo9s name, and
it just has my heart always.
Marigold & True. Yes, feels
just right,= she said.
Nourish, the food cart
operated by Kelley Rae9s hus-
band John, opens this month.
<Nancy and I have been
pleased to join other property
owners on Hood Avenue in
developing a vibrant district
that draws a mix of excep-
tional artists and world class
retailers,= said building owner
Dana Bratton. <As a real
estate professional, I believe
that location is crucial, and
it9s easy to see that a Hood
Avenue address has become
an important component for
business success. Add in
excellent dining options and
this neighborhood has what it
takes to make a visit to Sisters
a five-star experience.=
Another one of those
world-class artists is sculp-
tor Gary Cooley. His bronze
sculpture, <Helping Hands,=
is being installed on the east
side of the building, near the
South Pine Street entrance.
Gary and his wife Karen own
the Collection Gallery, which
along with Hood Avenue Art
and the framing studio for
Sisters Gallery and Frame
Shop, lend the mixed-use
building a heavy art pres-
ence. Other tenants fill the
two-story building.
Cooley9s sculpture is of
a young girl holding a little
boy in her arms, with doves
in their hands. A benefac-
tor commissioned <Helping
Hands= for The Children9s
Miracle Network in Eugene,
in 1998. Cooley and his
daughter, Carrie Strasheim,
sculpted the statue using
Cooley9s grandchildren as
models.
<I taught her how to sculpt,
and this was her first major
sculpture,= Cooley said.
Both artists signed the piece,
which was cast at a foundry
in Kalispell, Montana, where
the Cooleys lived at the time.
The commissioned sculp-
ture was initially placed in
a water feature at the origi-
nal location of Children9s
Miracle Network, a tempo-
rary residential facility for
31
families of chil-
dren in treatment
at Sacred Heart
Hospital. When
the new hospital
was built, so was
a new residence,
and the sculpture
was moved to
the newer facil-
ity, where it still
resides.
Cooley has
since cast half a
dozen replicas of
the sculpture for
other clients, but
this location9s
piece is Number
one in a limited
edition of 15.
<It9s my own
piece, but now
it belongs here,=
Cooley said.
<The idea
was to create a
PHOTO BY HELEN SCHMIDLING
figure that would
The
sculpture
“Helping
Hands”
is featured on
comfort families
the
west
(South
Pine
Street)
entrance
of Dana
who were under
Bratton’s
building.
stress due to
medical issues,=
outlook for the Sisters econ-
said Karen Cooley.=
In this time of uncer- omy is bright,= said Dana
tainty, it seems appropriate. Bratton. <For now, living here
<2020 has been unusual, but is wonderful and I9m looking
many local business people forward to the future with
recognize that the long-term great expectation.=