After a decade of “infiltrating Central Oregon with outsider and contemporary art” — to borrow a phrase from the nonprofit’s mission statement — Artists Local 101 is no more.

Co-founders Louise Montgomery and Lloyd McMullen announced the disbanding of the nonprofit organization Thursday, saying in an open letter to supporters, “with the current, expanded local art opportunities we have seen the steady decline of volunteers willing to continue with the necessary dedication to go forward with Artists Local 101.”

The group was born in the late 1990s, when the two women “decided this town is well-served in landscapes and Western art, but outside of that” there wasn’t much going on, said McMullen, now 56.

So they decided to focus on outsider and contemporary art. In their view, “outsider art” is a “subspecies of contemporary art,” McMullen said, generally made by people who “are unschooled or reject academics.” The term applies to graffiti-style, found-object and street art.

The first 101 projects were nontraditional: a 400-pound cigarette vending machine that sold small objet d’art for $4, and themed art shows in donated spaces around town. The group, which had 300 members at its 2003 peak, never acquired a dedicated gallery space.

But in recent years, as McMullen, Montgomery and other board members became busy with other projects or tried to pull back their involvement in the organization, they had a hard time getting other members, who paid $15 for an annual membership, to step up and volunteer their time.

Altared Stations, an annual event for the organization held in the fall in which art installations were put up in spaces not usually associated with fine art, fizzled out after it was held in 2007.

For the past couple of years, artist Mark Bernahl stepped in as the executive director of the organization, an unpaid position, but he stepped down in 2008.

“It was not fair to ask one person to do all that work. He had to step back, and no one was stepping up,” McMullen said. “We just needed to have some members willing to do it.”

But no one was.

“It was fun while it was going well,” said Montgomery, 60. “I guess in a way I’m sad to see it go, but I don’t have the time.”

One bright spot, though, is in the other opportunities for nontraditional artists in the region now.

“There are more artists out in the open, people doing outsider work” in Bend, said McMullen.

PoetHouse Art, the Bend gallery and studio space for young artists in downtown Bend, “is probably the most glowing example of that,” McMullen said. It’s a place where a lot of the work being done could be considered outsider art, and it’s been well-received in the community, a big a change.

Nearly 10 years ago, when 101 had its first show at the Bend Summer Festival, the artists in the group installed a gazebo of recycled bottles.

“People would come by the booth and make remarks like they thought monkeys had done it,” McMullen said.

Now, the art scene in town is much more open to contemporary and off-the-beaten-path art.

“Sometimes, people thought contemporary art was a joke, but people have gotten past that,” McMullen said.

One popular annual event started by Artists Local 101 is Trashformations, which invites people to use castoff materials, such as scrap metal, building parts and old computers, to create works of art.

Pat Korish of Pakit Liquidators confirmed that Trashformations will still take place this spring, most likely April 4 and 5.

For more information, contact Korish at 541-280-0783.