Worthy Brewing’s ReWild mural, which depicts Oregon native species, has been moved to the brewery’s Eastside pub after a dissenting neighbor derailed plans to install the artwork at the company’s Beers & Burgers location in downtown Bend.

“I think the placement of the mural at Worthy Brewing was simply the path of least resistance and everyone knows that,” said Roger Worthington, the owner of Worthy Brewing and the Worthy Building in downtown Bend along Brooks Alley. “I guess there was a point at which I wanted to contest and argue … but I looked down the road and that’s not worth my time.”

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Worthy Brewing’s owner is ‘crestfallen’ by canceled mural plans

The controversy over the mural first began earlier this month when Bob Deitz — who owns the property adjacent to the Worthy building — refused to give Worthington access to his property so he could install the mural. He told Worthington he disagreed with its messaging.

Mural’s message intended to engage customers

But now that the mural has been installed at Worthy Brewing’s Main Pub at 495 NE Bellevue Drive, Worthington hopes it contributes to the brewery’s tacit encouragement for customers to take a closer look at the world around them.

“We do challenge people who are customers coming to Worthy. We show them the stars and how the soil is made. We’re trying to create an experience for visitors to not just drink beer and eat great food and have great conversation, but also think about something differently and hopefully have some sort of epiphany about their place in the universe,” Worthington said.

Still plans for mural at downtown Beers & Burgers

Worthington said there are plans to design a different — less controversial — mural with the same artist to replace the original along Brooks Alley. And if there’s any silver lining to this whole situation, Worthington said, it’s that he gets to work with artist Karen Eland twice.

“For me, this process has turned into a good example of working things out in a community. We will be able to preserve this mural and also create a new one for the originally intended location. I feel encouraged that everyone involved worked through the difficulty to find a way forward,” Eland said.

Worthington said that the new mural will have a similar tenor, but more universal in its themes. Once Eland has a sketch ready, Worthington plans to share it with Dietz and other neighbors. He was begrudging about asking for permission to pursue his artistic vision, but Worthington is determined to beautify Downtown Bend to the best of his ability.

“Most of us read Voltaire’s novel ‘Candide’ in high school and one of the key messages from ‘Candide’ is to cultivate your garden. We can talk all day about changing the world, but in the end, it starts with your own garden … So, we’re going to come up with a theme that inspires people to take care of the world one garden at a time,” Worthington said.