For Sunrise Village, the district is a short walk along the Deschutes River Trail, and most of what draws people there from May through September happens outdoors. That changes this season. The district's winter now runs one flight up, on a second floor that is filling out as an arts floor. This November it adds a studio where visitors make the art themselves.
The building behind it all is 450 SW Powerhouse Drive. It is worth knowing by suite number.
The second floor at 450 SW Powerhouse
The Old Mill's own art gallery directory lists three galleries, and all three sit upstairs above the shops facing the river. In order down the hall:
- Suite 407, Tumalo Art Co. An artist-owned fine-art gallery, open seven days a week, with a new exhibition each month. It shows painting, ceramics, glass, sculpture, wood, photography and jewelry.
- Suite 422, The Stacks Art Studios & Gallery. A second-floor space for artists and makers. Its profiles feature abstract landscape painting, beverage and botanical photography, linocut prints, illustration and mixed media. Visits are by appointment outside the monthly First Friday walk.
- Suite 423, Lubbesmeyer Art Studio & Gallery. The working gallery of twin artists Lisa and Lori Lubbesmeyer, known for layered, stitched fiber "paintings."
- Suite 429, CeramiCafe. Slated to open this November.
A studio where the visitor does the work
The Old Mill District announced CeramiCafe on Oct. 15. The paint-your-own pottery studio has spent 25 years serving communities across Oregon and already runs locations in Clackamas, Corvallis, Lake Oswego and Beaverton. Bend makes five. Owner Krista Courtney told the district, "We love the sense of community, creativity, and adventure that makes Bend so unique."
The planned lineup covers paint-your-own pottery, mosaics, canvas painting, parties, private events, classes and camps. More than 500 bisque pieces will be on the shelves, and every paint is non-toxic, water-based and food-safe. Fired pieces are microwave and dishwasher safe. Beau Eastes, the district's marketing director, said in the same announcement that the studio is "going to be fantastic neighbors with our other art concepts upstairs." By the district's own account, the new studio sits one door down from Lubbesmeyer and The Stacks.
No opening day has been announced yet. On CeramiCafe's locations page, Bend's hours still read "Coming Soon."
Santa moved down a floor
As the upstairs gains a studio, the season's biggest crowd draw is heading the other way. SantaLand opens Friday, Nov. 27, in a new ground-floor space between Kara's Kitchenware and Anthropologie at 375 SW Powerhouse Drive, Suite A125. The district's SantaLand page says the move makes it "more accessible for families and little ones while keeping the same beloved traditions."
So the district's winter splits by floor. Santa visits, letters for the North Pole Express mailbox and the Tree of Joy are all on the ground floor. The galleries and the pottery tables are upstairs. The Tree of Joy runs with the Rotary Club of Greater Bend and The Salvation Army. Shoppers pick a tag with a Central Oregon child's or family's wish list, buy the unwrapped gifts and bring them back to SantaLand. Tags are available Nov. 27 through Dec. 13, the same window as the Santa mailbox.
Santa's arrival is still outdoors. AirLink Critical Care Transport and Deschutes County Search and Rescue bring him in by helicopter to the west event lawn by the river at 10 a.m. on Nov. 27. From there he heads to the new SantaLand space.
The kiln sets the holiday deadline
Gallery art goes home with you on the day you buy it. Painted pottery has to be fired first. CeramiCafe's announced turnaround is five days, and a $5 rush option gets a piece back within 48 hours. Christmas 2026 falls on a Friday. On the standard clock, a mug painted on Saturday, Dec. 19, is ready Thursday, Dec. 24. Any later and you need the rush option. Those dates assume the studio opens on schedule and its hours line up, so check its posted hours before planning around them.
Here is how that kiln deadline fits around the rest of the district's calendar:
| Date | What's happening | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Fri., Nov. 6, 3–6 p.m. | First Friday Art & Wine Walk | Shops and galleries across the district |
| Fri., Nov. 6, 3–7 p.m. | Opening reception for Taylor Manoles's oil landscapes | Tumalo Art Co., Suite 407 |
| Fri., Nov. 27, 10 a.m. | Santa arrives by helicopter | West event lawn |
| Nov. 27–29, Dec. 4–6, 11–13, 18–21, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. | SantaLand | Suite A125, ground floor |
| Weekends, Nov. 28–Dec. 27, noon–4 p.m. | Hot Cocoa Bar | Lady Bird Cultural Society |
| Tue., Dec. 1, 2 p.m. | Manoles exhibit closes | Tumalo Art Co. |
| Fri., Dec. 4, 3–6 p.m. | First Friday Art Walk | Across the district |
| Sun., Dec. 13 | Last day for Tree of Joy tags and Santa letters | SantaLand |
| Sat., Dec. 19 | Last day to paint pottery on the five-day clock for Dec. 24 pickup | CeramiCafe, Suite 429 |
This post goes up Thursday, Nov. 5, the day before the first entry on that table. The First Friday Art & Wine Walk runs 3 to 6 p.m. with wine samples from Va Piano Vineyards Wine & Champagne Bar, light snacks and pop-ups from local and regional artists. The district's listing pitches it as an afternoon that starts ahead of downtown Bend's events, which begin at 5 p.m. The reception upstairs at Tumalo Art Co. keeps going until 7. The November show is new landscapes by oil painter Taylor Manoles. Its title, "And There Was Evening, and There Was Morning," borrows a phrase Manoles describes as marking "the first ordering of light and darkness."
A floor that has been 25 years in the making
The Old Mill District officially opened on June 23, 2001. That makes 2026 its 25th year, which it marked in June with a free dance party at Hayden Homes Amphitheater. Its winter tribute to the anniversary came from upstairs. The 2026 Winter Art Series piece, a mixed-media painting called "Then and Now," was made by the Lubbesmeyer sisters, who have worked from their Old Mill District studio for 17 years.
It is also the 10th year of the series, and the Lubbesmeyers were its first artists in 2017. Their first piece used the bright colors they are known for. This one uses a muted winter palette, and it works in the smokestacks, the red powerhouse building, Hayden Homes Amphitheater, the Mill A building and the historic train depot that was moved to the district in 1999. In the district's announcement, Lori Lubbesmeyer described what stood out to her:
"The opportunity to think about the history here was kind of a gift. And what's resounding about that history is the goodwill and the visionary element that's guided the Old Mill's growth [around] what would be good for a community and what would bring people together."
"Then and Now" leads the district's winter marketing campaign. So the image representing the Old Mill this winter comes from the tenants of Suite 423, a few doors from where CeramiCafe's tables are going in. A Sunrise Village walk to the district this winter can cover all of it in one afternoon: First Friday wine, the Manoles landscapes at Suite 407, then Suite 429 to paint a piece that needs five days in the kiln.
If you'd like to talk about life near the Old Mill and the river, or how this side of Bend fits what you want from a home, David Holland is glad to talk it over with you. Schedule a Consultation.
