Think Out Loud

Camas artist Lara Blair creates and celebrates tiny art and the stories behind them

DURING THE PANDEMIC, LARA BLAIR [https://www.larablairartstudio.com/] FOUND HERSELF WITH A LOT OF TIME ON HER HANDS. WITH HER CAMAS PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO SITTING IDLE, BLAIR REMINISCED ABOUT HER CHILDHOOD AND TWO THINGS THAT BROUGHT HER JOY AS A 10-YEAR-OLD: DONUTS AND DOLLHOUSES. THANKS TO HOW-TO VIDEOS SHE SAW ON YOUTUBE, SHE SOON BEGAN MAKING SCULPTURES OF DONUTS FROM CLAY, ADORNED WITH SPRINKLES AND SURREAL, WHIMSICAL ELEMENTS SUCH AS TINY PEOPLE WITH ROPES CLIMBING UP THEIR FROSTED, CANDY-COLORED SIDES.    TODAY, BLAIR WORKS FULL TIME AS A SMALL-SCALE ARTIST CREATING INTRICATE DIORAMAS, SHADOW BOXES, COMMISSIONED PIECES AND OTHER TINY, SCULPTED WORKS [https://www.larablairartstudio.com/exhibition-works] SHE SELLS ONLINE OR AT GALLERY 408 IN CAMAS. THE COLUMBIAN [https://www.columbian.com/news/2026/jun/02/tiny-art-big-buzz-gallery-408-in-camas-to-unveil-mini-gallery/] RECENTLY PROFILED BLAIR AND A MINIATURE VERSION [https://www.gallery-408.com/mini-gallery] OF THE ART GALLERY SHE DESIGNED AND HELPED CREATE WITH THE GALLERY’S CO-OWNERS FEATURING TINY, PAINTED CANVASES AND SCULPTURES BLAIR AND OTHER LOCAL ARTISTS, INCLUDING PORTLAND PAINTER BIANCA YOUNGERS [https://www.biancayoungersart.com/about], CONTRIBUTED.     THE MINI GALLERY WAS INSPIRED BY A CONVERSATION BLAIR HAD WITH RACHAEL HARMS MAHLANDT, A PORTLANDER WHO CO-CREATED THE PDX SIDEWALK JOY MAP [https://www.opb.org/article/2025/08/08/portland-oregon-sidewalk-joy-art-installation-galleries-neighborhoods-culture/] THAT HAS SINCE EXPANDED WORLDWIDE [https://worldwidesidewalkjoy.com/the-map]. HARMS MAHLANDT WAS ONE OF THE FEATURED GUESTS ON BLAIR’S NEW PODCAST, “TINY WORLDS, BIG STORIES.” [https://www.youtube.com/@tinyworldsbigstories/featured] BLAIR AND YOUNGERS TALK WITH US ABOUT MAKING SMALL-SCALE ART THAT CAN SPARK DELIGHT AND CHILDLIKE WONDER FOR ITS CREATORS AND AUDIENCES ALIKE.

Southwest Washington married couple retired from U.S. military reflect on what it means to be an American

IN JUST A FEW WEEKS, MILLIONS OF AMERICANS WILL CELEBRATE THE FOURTH OF JULY WITH THEIR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS AT BARBECUES, PARADES AND OUTDOOR CONCERTS UNDER FIREWORKS. THIS YEAR’S CELEBRATIONS WILL TAKE ON ADDED SIGNIFICANCE AS OUR NATION COMMEMORATES THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF ITS INDEPENDENCE.    AS WE APPROACH THIS HISTORIC MILESTONE, “THINK OUT LOUD” HEARS FROM GUESTS WHOSE LIFE EXPERIENCES AND PERSONAL HISTORIES ILLUMINATE DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN AMERICAN.   WE START BY HEARING FROM BRYAN AND MICHELLE STEWART, A MARRIED COUPLE IN BATTLE GROUND, WASH. BRYAN AND MICHELLE RETIRED AS COLONELS IN THE U.S. ARMY AFTER NEARLY 60 YEARS OF COMBINED SERVICE AT MILITARY BASES IN THE U.S AND ABROAD. THEY BOTH SERVED IN AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ. BRYAN WAS ALSO DEPLOYED TO THE NATO HEADQUARTERS IN BELGIUM. MICHELLE WORKED IN BOSNIA, WHERE SHE HELPED IDENTIFY MASS GRAVE SITES AND ASSISTED WITH THE U.S.-LED EFFORT TO END THE WAR. SHE ALSO SERVED AS THE CHIEF OF STAFF AT ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY.    MICHELLE AND BRYAN STEWART JOIN US TO TALK ABOUT HOW THEIR MILITARY SERVICE HAS SHAPED THEIR VIEWS ON PATRIOTISM, SACRIFICE AND OUR COUNTRY'S FOUNDING IDEALS.

InvestigateWest's reporting finds overcrowding in OHSU’s NICU is raising concerns among staff, patients

Conditions are becoming increasingly crowded in Oregon Health & Science University’s neonatal intensive care unit, raising concerns among patients and staff. That’s according to new reporting [https://www.investigatewest.org/oregon-health-science-university-shelved-plans-to-expand-its-overcrowded-newborn-intensive-care-unit-nurses-fear-babies-wont-get-needed-care/] from InvestigateWest. Plans to expand capacity by building a new wing of OHSU's Doernbecher Children’s Hospital have largely stalled despite rising demand [https://www.nature.com/articles/s41372-026-02619-8]for neonatal intensive care nationwide.   Danielle Dawson [https://www.investigatewest.org/author/danielle-dawson/] is a collaborative investigative reporter and Report for America corps member at InvestigateWest. She joins us with more details.

Nez Perce playwright tackles ancient Greek tragedy

Sophocles wrote "Antigone" almost 2,500 years ago, but the themes in the story are timeless. Nez Perce scholar and author Beth Piatote [https://english.berkeley.edu/people/beth-piatote] was inspired to write an Indigenous version of "Antigone," featuring a young woman torn between a moral duty to her family and ancestors and the will of the state. Playwright Beth Piatote joins us, along with Nathan Woodworth, one of the actors in a new production from the Native Performing Arts Network [https://www.nativeperformingarts.org/] and Bag and Baggage Productions [https://bagnbaggage.org/] in Beaverton. We are also joined by Jeanette Harrison, Creative Director of the Native Performing Arts Network.

REBROADCAST: Italy’s famed marble quarries continue to beckon and inspire Oregon sculptor

FOR 40 YEARS, SCULPTOR M.J. ANDERSON [https://www.mjandersonsculpture.com/sculpture-categories/recent-figurative] HAS BEEN MAKING ANNUAL TRIPS FROM HER HOME ON THE OREGON COAST TO CARRARA, ITALY. SHE SPENDS UP TO THREE MONTHS THERE, TRAVELING ALONG A WINDING ROAD TO QUARRIES WITH TOWERING WALLS OF MARBLE, THE SAME KIND OF STONE THAT WAS USED TO CREATE MICHELANGELO’S SCULPTURE OF DAVID AND OTHER TIMELESS WORKS OF RENAISSANCE ART.    But Anderson isn’t interested in recreating classical, idealized representations of masculine or feminine beauty. Instead, a unifying theme of Anderson’s work is “the distillation of what it feels like to be woman.” Starting at her studio in Carrara, she uses grinders and air hammers to carve torsos evoking the female form out of massive blocks of marble, onyx and travertine. The pieces are then shipped, unfinished, to Anderson’s studio in Nehalem [https://watch.opb.org/video/oregon-art-beat-season-4-episode-29/]where she polishes them while retaining drill marks and other raw reminders of the stone’s past and its “power.” We talked with Anderson on Sep. 13, 2025 about her artistic process and the themes she explores in her work.