Artist Mark Jamnik will host a series of interactive abstract art events in Bend, as announced on April 13. The events are part of the Bend Chamber of Commerce’s centennial celebrations and invite community members to participate in creating a collaborative artwork.
The initiative highlights both the hundred-year history of the Bend Chamber and the evolution of abstract art over the same period. Jamnik’s project, titled “A Century of Business, Captured on Canvas: Subliminal Art Experiences,” will be featured at three upcoming Chamber gatherings: “Biz & Bevs” at Brian’s Cabinets on April 14, “Coffee and Commerce” at Mosaic Community Health on May 12, and the Centennial Celebration at the High Desert Museum on May 21.
During these events, attendees are encouraged to contribute words or sketches reflecting their thoughts about Bend’s past or future directly onto a blank canvas. Jamnik described this process as “like a collective Wordle, or a word cloud,” adding that it reveals “what people are thinking about when they think of celebrating the past of the Bend Chamber of Commerce and imagining its future.”
After each event, Jamnik incorporates participants’ contributions into an evolving piece of abstract art. He said he reflects on his conversations with attendees while developing the final work: “I read over what everyone wrote and I think, ‘Oh, I talked to Jim about this particular thing,’ or ‘Jill, about that.’ I reflect on the conversations I had … so the abstract art piece gets captured in that way.”
Jamnik has been offering similar VIP Collective Experiences since relocating from Tempe, Arizona to Bend in 2021. He explained his preference for abstraction by saying: “There are so many things in my life that I like to organize. And abstract art just allows me to not have to see a particular image. Instead, I just have a chance to see how it makes me feel.”
The collaborative canvas will travel between all three scheduled events before being completed and unveiled later this summer.
