Centrally Oregon is a co-working space for artists, writers and other professionals which opened earlier this month in Sunriver. The Bulletin previously reported on its opening and owner Stephanie Gregory’s vision for it. Located inside a 1,400-square-foot warehouse, members have access to dedicated desks, an art studio space and workshops Gregory currently teaches on writing, printmaking, watercolor and more.
Gregory says she created the business because of her own experiences with working remotely and as a writer and artist in southern Deschutes County who often struggled to find local venues to teach her writing workshops. She joins us to share why she thinks her new space is needed in the region and her future plans for it. Kristine Thomas, the executive director of the Sunriver Area Chamber of Commerce and an aspiring mystery writer who has taken writing workshops taught by Gregory, also joins us for this discussion.
Note: The following transcript was transcribed digitally and validated for accuracy, readability and formatting by an OPB volunteer.
Dave Miller: This is Think Out Loud on OPB. I’m Dave Miller. A writer, a ceramicist and a printmaker walk into an old warehouse. It’s not the setup of a joke. It is the dream of my next guest. Stephanie Gregory recently opened Centrally Oregon inSunriver. It’s a co-working space for artists and writers that offers desks and studio spaces along with workshops.
Stephanie Gregory joins us now, along with Kristine Thomas. She is the executive director of the Sunriver Area Chamber of Commerce and an aspiring mystery writer who has taken writing workshops from Gregory. It’s great to have both of you on Think Out Loud.
Kristine Thomas: Thank you.
Stephanie Gregory: Thanks, Dave. Thanks for having us.
Miller: Stephanie first – what prompted you to create this new space?
Gregory: The idea really began to take shape as I neared the end of my time in the Master of Fine Arts and Creative Writing program I was in. Writing is generally viewed as a solitary activity, but I found that a lot of inspiration comes from working in groups. Then I began to notice that a lot of people in the community here were reaching out, looking for places to work, a place to gather. After my own struggles with being able to find a place to host writing workshops, I thought to myself, what if I can create this space and fill that void?
Miller: What kind of a void was it? I mean, how is this new space different from other co-working or studio rental [spaces], or just other spaces that are in Deschutes County?
Gregory: You do have some focused, co-working spaces down in Bend. There are also a few different kinds of art studios. But nobody’s combined the two ideas. What I was really looking to do was to create a space in southern Deschutes County that was more accessible. I’m trying to keep things priced more competitively, let’s say, than you might find in the bigger cities.
Miller: Kristine, can you give us a sense for what this old warehouse was used for in the past?
Thomas: I don’t know that. I can’t answer that, but I can share that I think this space is something needed in the Sunriver area plus South Deschutes County. The Sunriver Music Festival started 49 years ago because there was a need for it. Sixteen years ago, the Artists’ Gallery in The Village at Sunriver started. So I think this just adds to the creative community in the Sunriver, South Deschutes County area.
Miller: How would you describe that community, Kristine, right now?
Thomas: It’s incredibly supportive. You look at the many things that the music festival does for the community, as well as the Artists’ Gallery, and I see Stephanie doing the same. And again, people need a place to connect and share ideas. So I look forward to seeing how this business is going to grow and support our community.
Miller: Stephanie, can you describe the space that you found and what you did to build it out?
Gregory: It is approximately 1,400 square feet – like you said, an old warehouse. We went in and put some fresh paint up, and then being a creative myself, I tried to think of ways that could make it a little bit different. And we created individual desk areas with old doors as the dividers. I tried to secondhand as much of the furniture and decor as I could and make it more eclectic but comfortable, homey vibes.
Miller: How would you describe Centrally Oregon to somebody who has never been in it? When they walk in, what do they see and what’s the vibe?
Gregory: There are several seating areas, couches, chairs, again the individual desks, some large tables for groups to sit around. There’s a small stage area where I’m going to be hosting some lectures, open mic and spoken-word evenings. So it’s really just gonna be a space where, by day, remote workers will have a quiet place that they can focus, get out of the house for a little while if they need to. And by the evenings and weekends, hopefully, we’ll just have a really vibrant artistic community of people coming together and sharing the space to create.
Miller: Kristine, maybe this is incorrect, but I tend to think of Sunriver as primarily a vacation or second home destination. Do you see this space as more for short-term visitors or year-round local or regional residents?
Thomas: I see it as a space for both. Sunriver has a vibrant community that lives here year-round. Plus we’re surrounded by the Three Rivers community and LaPine. So it’s a place people can come and take a writing workshop or take an art class, come listen to live music, or like Stephanie says, guest speakers. What’s great about it, it’s in the Sunriver Business Park and it’s next to Josie K’s, which is one of our major food places, and Century Commons, so people can come, bring if they want, grab something to eat, come there and take a class or listen to music.
Miller: Stephanie, this has only been open for a little over two weeks – that was your grand opening. What has the level of interest been like so far?
Gregory: The community’s been really supportive. Everybody’s really liking the idea, and like you said, we just opened up two weeks ago. We really got this turned around and opened within six weeks from the initial go. I’ve had only a handful of people so far. Remote workers have been coming in and using the space.
I’m hoping to really kick off all of our activities here in July, starting with my first workshop tomorrow. You can follow online at centrallyoregon.com or on social media for all of the latest events and workshops as they come up. So I’m really hopeful that everybody starts signing up and joins us for all of the fun activities that are coming.
Miller: What is your first workshop tomorrow?
Gregory: The first workshop tomorrow is going to be on flash fiction writing,
Miller: Meaning, quickly writing a short work of fiction?
Gregory: A very short work of fiction, so usually 500 to 1,000 words max, from start to finish of the story.
Miller: So as you said, there are only a couple of people so far. Has anything surprised you yet in these early days about how people are choosing to use the space?
Gregory: I would say that I’ve been pleasantly surprised. The space has been used so far for exactly what I intended. For instance, I had a person who, like you said, has a second home in Sunriver, was having some renovations done and needed to be able to get out of the house to attend some meetings and get work done. So he came in for the week, and said that he just really enjoyed the space and it worked perfectly for what he was trying to do. So I just hope that the word gets out and we continue to see more of that.
Miller: Kristine, what do you intend to do in this new space?
Thomas: I intend to take some writing workshops. There’s a couple I’m going to take this month and continue to see what Stephanie does and just participate. It’s great to have something in Sunriver to do this. Bend has a lot of great options, but sometimes on wintry days, you don’t want to drive as far, so it’s nice to have something right here. I’m excited to see what Stephanie will do. She’s an incredibly creative person. Her workshops are fun. She makes you feel comfortable too, so that’s what I really enjoy about working with her as a writer.
Miller: Stephanie, how much does it cost or to become a member or to get access to the various versions of membership?
Gregory: I’ve tried to make it accessible to everybody. You can do a day pass that’s $20. You’ll have access to be in the space all day if you just need to come in as a remote worker for a couple of days...
Miller: … $20. So like your family is biking around in the trails and playing pickleball, but you are tied to your job, so you’ll go there and work. OK, so that’s the day pass?
Gregory: Exactly. Yeah [laughs]. [For] the workshops, you can pay individually for each workshop or you can basically buy an all-access pass for $79 a month. And then if you want full access 24/7 to use the space and go to all of the workshops, it’s $149 a month.
Miller: It’s possible that some people are going there because they want quiet, because their kids are screaming in their house. And then other people are going there because they’re sick of the quiet and they want some version of a creative life in a social environment, or that maybe their artistic practice is a little bit noisy, just inherently noisy … I don’t know, jewelry making or pounding metal or something. How are you gonna navigate different people’s acoustic or social needs?
Gregory: Me personally, there is something that really helps me focus when there’s that buzz of background activity. So it doesn’t have to be a lot of loud activities going on while you’re trying to work. I think we’ll try to avoid some of that. But you’re gonna have that buzz of maybe some soft music and conversations happening around you without it being a distraction. And again, a lot of the activities will take place more in the evenings outside of regular business hours. So I think that that’ll be the way that we navigate any of those issues.
Miller: Stephanie Gregory and Kristine Thomas, thanks so much.
Gregory: Thanks so much for having me.
Miller: Stephanie Gregory is the owner of the new co-working and arts studio space, Centrally Oregon, in Sunriver. Kristine Thomas is an aspiring mystery writer and the executive director of the Sunriver Area Chamber of Commerce.
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