CONTENTS
PAGE 2 • GO! MAGAZINE
talent
THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2021 • THE BULLETIN
The Bulletin and Scalehouse, a collaborative for the arts, have joined together to raise
donations to help Central Oregon’s creative artists — musicians, visual artists, performers
and creative workers — by offering grants and a platform to bring attention to local
amazing talent. This is a crowdfunding effort with a first-round fundraising goal of
$40,000. To make a tax-deductible donation or apply for a grant, go to
bendbulletin.com/talent.
Wells looks forward to producing art again
BY DAVID JASPER
The Bulletin
Bend artist John “Jay” Wells is a Central Ore-
gon Creative Artists Relief Effort grant ap-
plicant. Unable to sell his works at events
such as the Oregon Country Fair, Wells’
income dropped this past year.
S
ince he began selling his artwork over
a decade ago, Bend visual artist John
“Jay” Wells came to rely on the added
income. That evaporated at the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Wells, this week’s Central Oregon Cre-
ative Artists Relief Effort (CO CAREs) fea-
tured artist is primarily a self-taught artist.
Typically, he sells his wearable works at festi-
vals such as the Oregon Country Fair, which
was canceled in 2020.
“In years past, festivals were actually a
pretty important source of income for me,”
Wells said.
He mainly concentrated his resources on
two Oregon festivals: the Oregon Country
Fair and Faerieworlds Music and Arts Fes-
tival, “because of the logistics of hauling all
of your supplies and what not, setting up
a booth and getting a vendor’s license —
pretty difficult if you just have a regular life
Submitted photo
aside from that,” he said.
Though Wells also sells pieces via his Etsy
page, his colorfast, hand-painted hats were
quite popular at festivals, where they sold well.
“It’s been a little more difficult for me to
move them elsewhere,” he said. “When peo-
ple really get them in their hands and look
at the details, and realize, ‘Oh, this isn’t just a
hat; it’s actually a painting,’ they tend to have
a different reaction to it.”
“Unfortunately,” he said, “that’s all off the
table now due to COVID-19.”
Likewise with his main trade working as
a hotel night manager, he said. “Ever since
COVID-19 hit, I’ve ac-
tually been off of work,
because I have some respi-
ratory issues that would make get-
ting COVID-19 a real big problem for me.”
Without money coming in, it’s difficult to
produce more work.
“I can only produce as much art as I can
sell,” Wells said. “I don’t have a huge apart-
ment. I can’t just pile my work up around
me endlessly. And I also can’t just end-
lessly waste money on materials. In order
to keep going, I have to sell things, which
is a kind of sad and frustrating aspect of
my life as an artist.”
Not long after he spoke to GO! for
this article, Wells received more woe-
ful financial news: His rent would be go-
ing up by $100 a month.
“No matter how much money an artist
makes, the expenses always increase a little
bit faster,” he said.
The CO CAREs grant program will help.
“When the market crashed, my art
crashed with it,” Wells said. “I still practice,
but I don’t produce anything anymore. That’s
absolutely why a program like (CO CAREs)
is so important. That could get me produc-
ing art again after such a long hiatus.”
David Jasper: 541-383-0349, djasper@bendbulletin.com
find what’s inside
see: Raven Makes Gallery, p.6
drink: Lost Love from Crux, p.10
staff
watch: Movies about motherhood, p.19
about this magazine
editor Jody Lawrence-Turner | 541-383-0308, jlawrence-turner@bendbulletin.com
events specialist Makenzie Whittle | 541-383-0304, mwhittle@bendbulletin.com
GO! Magazine publishes Thursdays. Find us online at bendbulletin.com/go
editor & fine arts David Jasper | 541-383-0349, djasper@bendbulletin.com
page designer Jenny Johnston | jjohnston@bendbulletin.com
address: 320 SW Upper Terrace Drive, Suite 200, Bend, OR 97702
outdoors writer Mark Morical | 541-383-0318, mmorical@bendbulletin.com
Cover image: 123RF
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