On March 7^th, the Mockingbird Gallery was humming with that singular energy that comes with warm(ish) weather, free wine, and the end of a work week. Having moved to Tumalo 18 months ago from Newberg, John and Joan Bollier had come to Bend to check out First Friday, and a friend had recommended the Mockingbird Gallery. Though they weren’t in the market for artwork, they found themselves admiring the winsome energies of Angela Mia’s sculptures and the muted ecosystems of Romona Youngquist’s brush strokes. Then, while wandering between canvases, they suddenly found themselves back on Market Street in San Francisco. 

When studying Richard Boyer’s 40×40 canvas, one can almost hear it: the quiet thunder of the streetcars, the whirr of bicycles, the lilt of pedestrian chatter, the groans and sighs of buses rolling to a stop. In oil, Boyer conjures a beauty often endangered by the urban monotony: the sloping horizon of the steep streets, the soft apricot haze of marine fog over the skyscrapers. The scene is both mundane and urbane: sunlight glimmers of emerald sycamore leaves, bathes the long plane of asphalt stretching to destinations out of frame. San Francisco announces itself at the painting’s center, where the scarlet of the street car pulses like a heartbeat. The cables above sever the skyline in almost every direction, a web of parallels and perpendiculars that seem to tremble on the upper periphery. Boyer’s Market Street (2023) is traffic and transaction, infinite movement without motion. 

While John and Joan share similar aesthetic tastes, they don’t always agree on artwork; that said, they both felt an instant, compelling connection to Boyer’s depiction of the beloved place where they met. They had recognized San Francisco immediately—in fact, John would recognize that street anywhere. Before Market Street was Boyer’s muse, it was John’s mission. Throughout his career, John had worked as a field engineer and superintendent for Stacy and Witbeck, Inc. (a full-service contractor for heavy civil infrastructure projects), climbing the ladder eventually to CEO. Between 1986 and 1999, the company was responsible for the building of four Market Street reconstruction projects, including the rehabilitation of San Francisco’s historic streetcar lines. Between 1987 and 1988, John had worked diligently on the first two of these projects, restoring and optimizing the street car system that had become synonymous with the city.        

Equally enamored with the painting, John and Joan asked Jim Peterson—owner of the Mockingbird Gallery since 1990—if he knew why Boyer had chosen Market Street as his subject. Though Peterson could not answer this question himself, he graciously relayed that they were in luck: the Salt Lake City-based artist was actually in town. Even better: he was just across the room.

Boyer’s connection to the Mockingbird Gallery is through Peterson, who brought Boyer’s work with him to Bend from his previous gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona. That evening, Peterson was delighted to be the liaison between Boyer and the Bolliers. After exchanging introductions, John asked Boyer the golden question: what had compelled Boyer to paint this street, in particular?

The answer was about contradictions: the timelessness of the streetcars in the midst of modern rush hour; the chaotic beauty of commuters under crossed wires. The nostalgic charm of the red trolleys, chugging along through the arteries of a city that has, in many ways, moved past them. Though Boyer has been painting cityscapes for some time now, he has not yet tired of San Francisco. He finds himself drawn back again to the street cars, and their ability to both transport and transfix.

The Bolliers were sold. As Joan pointed out, it was all too much to ignore: their shared connection to Market Street was one thing, but for their paths to cross with Boyer’s in downtown Bend, of all places, felt like more than a happy coincidence. Minutes later, Jim put a red sticker next to Market Street.

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“It was a total impulse buy,” John said, “but both Joan and I knew it was really special. It’s a beautiful painting, and we appreciate the connection between the artwork and our early experiences in San Francisco.”

Boyer was just as elated. “I’ve never had a person say, ‘I built that,’” he remarked. While Boyer has always found joy in connecting with others through his art, he rarely has the opportunity to appreciate a buyer’s own art in the process. In this exchange, there was a mutual respect for one another’s craft that was entirely unique. “I just thought that was so cool that John did that work, and that we connected over it in this way.”

Once delivered, Market Street will be displayed in the Bollier’s new home in Tumalo.

Mockingbird Gallery is located at 869 NW Wall Street in Bend. The gallery is open Monday-Saturday from 10-6 and Sundays from 11-4.

Richard Boyer is originally from the Niagara Falls area but is an avid admirer of western cityscapes. He frequently paints scenes from San Francisco, New York, and Portland (where he is enchanted by the obsidian sheen of rainy streets, rather than trolleys)>