Discovery West feels like its own world. The Northwest Bend neighborhood blends apartments, townhomes, cottages, and single-family homes with forty acres of parks and a network of trails that weave between pines and basalt outcroppings. It is a community designed with fire resilience in mind and shaped around a natural sense of rhythm. At the heart of it all is a collection of public art transforming the neighborhood into a sort of open-air gallery.

  This is no accident. Valerie Yost, Director of Marketing for Discovery West, says the developer loves art and loves what it does for people. She notes that art sparks curiosity and brings unexpected joy to the places we pass through every day. A strong partnership with Bend Parks and Recreation made some of the installations possible. And the neighbors’ response has been overwhelmingly positive. People love learning about the women of discovery whose names adorn the streets. They love that the art is approachable, meaningful, and a point of connection in their daily walk.

What follows is a walking tour of the defining pieces throughout Discovery West: sculptures, murals, mosaics, stories told through stone and steel, and pigment. It is a portal into the vision of the artists who animated these spaces and the legends, science, and history they hope you will encounter along the way.

Legend of the Coyote and Crow
Artist: Lillian Pitt with creative support from Bend Dye and Juno Lachman

Warm Springs artist Lillian Pitt brings a treasured Native American legend to life in this sculptural pairing of Coyote and Crow. The story is a cautionary tale about naivety and the trouble that follows when cleverness is ignored. The Coyote rises from a basalt base etched with petroglyph-inspired imagery, his form crafted from hand-forged bronze and copper. Nearby, Crow and his companions perch on a 14-foot stainless steel tree, watching, judging, perhaps waiting to intervene. Pitt is known for honoring the Indigenous people of the Columbia River region in her work. Here, she offers something that is both playful and powerful. The animals feel alive in the Central Oregon light and the basalt underfoot ties them to the land itself. The piece invites visitors to slow down, to consider the old stories and to wonder what they still have to teach.

Discovery Park Labyrinth
Artists: Lea Goode-Harris and Marilyn Larson

Walk west into Discovery Park, and you will find a quiet ribbon of stone unfurling across the ground. The Discovery Park Labyrinth is simple at first glance but rich in intention. 
Designer Lea Goode-Harris says the site reminded her and her collaborative partner Marilyn Larson of a riverbed. Water became the guiding element. The labyrinth uses local Oregon moss-covered boulders and a layout described as a three-circuit pass through with an outer ring. It welcomes walkers from either direction and leads them to a central boulder that feels old and grounding.

Goode-Harris and Larson have been collaborating for nearly three decades. Their first labyrinth was drawn in the sand on a California beach. Many of their collaborations happen long-distance. Discovery Park was the rare gift for working side by side. Larson describes labyrinths as ears on the earth. A place where you listen to the land and to yourself. Goode-Harris encourages visitors to pause at the entrance. Ask a question. Or simply breathe. She hopes the labyrinth helps people feel more connected to their body, to art, to others, and to the natural world around them. And on a warm Bend morning, with the scent of pine and sage drifting by, it absolutely does.

Mechanical Waves Mosaic Mural
Artist: Rochelle Rose-Schueler

Discovery Corner bursts with color thanks to the mosaic murals created by neighborhood resident Rochelle Rose-Schueler of Wild Rose Artworks. Her series, titled “Mechanical Waves,” wraps seat walls, planter beds and the fire pit ring in layered patterns inspired by physics and by the landscapes of Central Oregon. Roses-Schueler has a background in forestry and watershed management, and she brings that scientific perspective to her art. The fire pit mosaic is built around seismic waves and the Earth’s shifting stratification. The planter murals show sound waves visualized as if charted on an oscilloscope. The seat walls ripple with the shapes of the Upper Deschutes meander belt near Sunriver.

Upon receiving the commission, she was given a single broad instruction: to introduce color into the plaza. As the neighborhood celebrates women of discovery, she aimed to inspire viewers to uncover something new through her work. She dedicated months to researching the scientific principles behind each concept, then translated those ideas into vibrant, tangible artworks that shine under the Bend sky.

Rose-Schueler came to mosaics through an unexpected journey. She raised children, tie-dyed shirts, screen printed, welded, and took metal arts classes. And, only after a visit to see her daughter in the Bay Area and a random idea to take a class while there, did she dive into mosaics. One class became another class, which became a seven-day intensive workshop that led to an apprenticeship in New Orleans. She now creates public art that brings her joy and others’ joy. Beyond the plaza, she crafted the set of small mosaic pinecones on the Skyline Ranch Road bridge. A nod to the neighborhood’s forests and a warm welcome to anyone entering Discovery West.

Pinecone Fire Pit Sculpture
Artist: Jenny Ellsworth

At the center of Discovery Corner stands a giant pinecone made of rusted steel plates — six feet tall, six feet wide, and more than six hundred pounds. It glows like an ember at night when the fire pit crackles around it. Artist and welder Jenny Ellsworth of Fairy Forge created the sculpture after studying the neighborhood logo and leaning into the universal symbolism of a pinecone. It is simple. Familiar. Comforting. Something both kids and adults understand instinctively.

Ellsworth began welding years ago while repairing four-wheeling rigs with friends. She scavenged junkyards for metal that she could shape into pieces people loved. That sense of curiosity and resourcefulness still fuels her. For the Discovery West sculpture, she worked with new metal rather than reclaimed materials. In a departure from her usual process, she used a dipping technique to achieve the warm brown color and created special forms to refine each fin.

She says she interpreted the two-dimensional pinecone logo into a three-dimensional sculpture by using negative space to invite the flame. The result is mesmerizing. Fire flickers in and out of the open slats. The piece feels alive, permanent and perfectly at home in the center of the plaza.

Londonderry Sculpture
Artist: Chris Cole

Along the east side of Londonderry Place stands a seven-foot-tall steel sculpture that honors Annie Londonderry, the first woman to bicycle around the world in the mid-1890s. Artist Chris Cole, a former bike mechanic turned painter and kinetic sculptor, created an inverted pyramid shape filled with decorative bicycle cogs, a ship porthole, and an illuminated image of Annie herself.

Cole knew nothing about Annie before taking on the project. Once he began researching her life, he became determined to celebrate her in a public space. Annie was a married mother of three who set out to prove that a woman could circle the globe on two wheels. She crossed continents and boarded steamer ships when oceans stood in the way. Her journey was symbolic of the women’s suffrage movement, and the bicycle itself was certainly a symbol of independence. 

Cole says he chose the inverted pyramid shape to represent triumph over improbability. The ship porthole honors Londonderry’s time aboard steamers. And the mechanics woven throughout reference the world he grew up in, working in bike shops and falling in love with the freedom of the ride. He loves public art because it reaches people unexpectedly and invites them to imagine something bigger. His tribute to Annie Londonderry does exactly that.

Women of Discovery Mural
Artist: Doug Robertson

On a bright yellow wall near Discovery Corner, you will find a series of layered stencil portraits created by Oregon artist Doug Robertson. The “Women of Discovery” mural honors ten women whose breakthroughs in the worlds of science, exploration, travel, and medicine helped shape history and inspired the street names of the neighborhood.

Robertson is known for his hand-drawn, hand-cut stencil work. He develops each image through intricate layers that he scales to fit the mural. The bright yellow background amplifies the black base of each portrait. Robertson says he layered nearly 10 other colors on top to give the image a little more depth and texture, making it look more three-dimensional against the background. The faces appear abstract at first, then come alive with depth the longer you study them. The mural feels bold and celebratory. A visual reminder that discovery is not a single moment but a lifetime of curiosity and courage.

Constellation Boxes

Three constellation-inspired art boxes appear throughout Discovery West. They serve as small celestial surprises tucked into the neighborhood. Each one echoes the broader theme of exploration and honors the women whose scientific contributions helped guide the way.

Women of Discovery Walk

Scattered around Discovery Corner, you will find bronze medallions donated by the Discovery West Builders Guild. Each pair of medallions represents one of the nineteen women of discovery who inspired the street names. From physicists to world travelers, scientists to aviators, these medallions form an open-air learning trail. They turn an ordinary walk into a moment of recognition and respect for the women who changed the world.

Discovery West is more than a neighborhood. It is a place that encourages you to pause, look more closely, and discover something new. These sculptures, mosaics, and murals bring wonder to daily life. They anchor the community with story and symbolism, making art a companion to the trails, the parks, and the people who call this place home. It’s also an invitation to everyone in the community and to anyone visiting to engage with the Discovery West neighborhood and its tremendous works of art.