The Bear Deluxe magazine explores place-based issues though writing and the visual arts.

About the magazine

Exploring environmental issues through editorial and art

The Bear Deluxe Magazine is the flagship project of Orlo and is published semi-annually from our headquarters in Portland, Oregon. The magazine aims to enrich the cultural dialogue about the environment through creative nonfiction, interviews, reportage, essays, reviews, poetry, fiction and visual art published in the soy-based inky, recycled pages of the magazine and online.

Distribution

The Bear Deluxe roams wild and free throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

The Bear Deluxe calls Portland, Oregon home, but our territory ranges far and wide. Each issue makes its way up and down the West Coast, to the Eastern seaboard and overseas.

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Distribution outlets include bookstores, libraries, cafes, community centers and even a few bowling alleys and laundromats (we love laundromats). The magazine is also made available via a series of art boxes around Northwest Portland, through events and conferences and via various “distribution associates” located around the country. Outside of Portland, some of our more popular locations are Eugene, Oregon, the Western Rockies of Colorado, the Mission District of San Francisco, Capital Hill in Seattle, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Yeah, Baton Rouge!)

You can guarantee that every issue of The Bear Deluxe lands in your neighborhood by joining our stealth crew of distribution associates. We will send magazines for you to distribute to your favorite local coffeeshops, bookstores and bars. Email us with “distribution associate” in the subject line and tell us where you would like to drop the magazines. Or ask your local business owner to get in touch with us and we will send magazines to their front door.

And while most copies are distributed free-of-charge there are many reasons to subscribe—in particular, copies go very quickly wherever we distribute.

Permanent collections of the Bear Deluxe magazine can be found in the New York Public Library, Multnomah County Central Library and Pacific Northwest College of Art.

Art Boxes

Outdoor magazine distribution boxes as public art? You bet.

With the support of Neighbors West-Northwest and Portland’s Office of Neighborhood Involvement, Orlo has developed Art Boxes located throughout Northwest Portland and its environs. The plain metal boxes are painted by local artists to reflect a neighborhood theme and then located at strategic intersections.

Sample and Back Issues

Miss the latest issue?

Sample issues of The Bear Deluxe are available for $7 per Issue. Unless you specifically request otherwise, we’ll send you the more recent issue as a sample. Go here to check out our back issues and order by PayPal. If you are a requesting an issue other than the most recent one please specify which issue you would like in the notes section of your PayPal order.

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Awards and Recognition

Long live independent print media

Orlo and The Bear Deluxe Magazine have been recognized for editorial, creative and design excellence by the Oregon Arts Commission, the Oregon Cultural Trust, Literary Arts, Oregon Humanities, the Regional Arts & Culture Council, the Bumbershoot Arts Festival, Print magazine, Adbusters, Orion, High Country News, Utne, The Oregonian, the Eugene Register Guard, Willamette Week and Portland Monthly.

Additional support has been provided by The Kinsman Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust, Oregon Community Foundation, The Carl & Roberta Deutsch Foundation, Neighbors West-Northwest (Office of Neighborhood Involvement) and the Metro Central Enhancement Fund, among others.

Orlo has published and presented the work of over 2,500 writers and artists and has reached an audience exceeding 3 million.

Thank you to the many talented writers, artists, designers and editors who have contributed to making The Bear Deluxe Magazine a leading voice in environmental arts throughout the years.

Bear Deluxe Staff

Editorial

Design

Volunteer

Editor, writer, and teacher, Neva Knott is a longtime contributor to Pacific Northwest arts including Plazm Magazine and The Ecotone Exchange. Neva lives in Olympia, Washington and joined Orlo in 2018 as Editor of The Bear Deluxe Magazine. She may be reached at neva@orlo.org.
Editor In Memoriam

The co-founder of the Bear Deluxe magazine, writer and editor Tom has been on the Orlo board since 1993. A Portland native, Tom graduated from Vassar College in New York with a degree in economics before working nationwide on a presidential campaign. He then went into publications, marketing and development for various community-based nonprofit organizations before helping to start The Bear Deluxe. Webb has over 19 years experience in publishing and nonprofit management. For the past four years, Webb has worked as the main editor in the School of Extended Studies at Portland State University, where he has gained valuable skills in academic outreach and online marketing. Tom’s writing has appeared in The Oregonian, The Bear Deluxe, Oregon Tilth and Citadel of the Spirit: Oregon’s Sesquincentennial (Nestucca Spit Press). He also sits on the board of the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission and has served on grant panels for the Regional Arts & Culture Council and the Office of Neighborhood Involvement. Tom holds a BA degree in economics from Vassar College and professional certificates in project management and online strategies.
Senior editor

Casey is one Portland’s best-known poets. He has been invited to read at such literary venues as the Mountain Writers Series, the Seattle Poetry Festival, Artquake and the Portland Poetry Festival. He has published several poetry collections including Blessings of Madness (26 Books), Jane’s Bonnets (Craftsmen Printers) and Not Afraid of Freud (Unimpressed Press). Casey has also authored two biographies of Oregonians: Grandmaster from Oregon: The Life and Games of Arthur Dake (Portland Chess Club) and Inside the Black Box: The Life of Oregon Neuroscientist Robert Stone Dow (private printing). He served as The Oregonian’s chess columnist from 1987-93 and was a technical writer for the Hewlett-Packard Cardiac Division. Casey holds a BA in English from Michigan State University.
Senior editor

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Senior copyeditor

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Creative director

By day Ryan works for XPLANE, a design consultancy that uses visual thinking to increase deep understanding and alignment of business goals with their clients. With a strong background in illustration, design for learning and sustainable business practices, Ryan moonlights on design and marketing initiatives for nonprofit organizations across Portland, especially where they can open minds and create change. From 2008-2014, he served as creative director for Framework International, a humanitarian organization that builds schools in Ghana. He received a BFA in graphic design from Oregon State University, and has peen practicing design in Portland for over a decade. Before XPLANE, Ryan honed his skills as an in-house designer with Ecova, Oliver Wyman Leadership Development, Nike, and Wacom.
Creative director (emeritus)

Kristin has spent the last decade using her background in award-winning publications to design publications, user experiences, and brand strategies across media. She currently works as art director of Bitch Media, whose mission is to provide and encourage an engaged, thoughtful feminist response to mainstream media and pop culture. There, she has been able to prove that thoughtful design drives readership, builds community, and makes a difference. She is currently an Assistant Professor at PNCA (Pacific Northwest College of Art), teaching and mentoring in the illustration and design programs.

Her work with the Bear Deluxe has been featured multiple times in Print’s Regional Design Annual and Utne Reader. She earned her BA from Kenyon College and went to graduate school at the Denver Publishing Institute.
Independent art editor

Daniela works in a range of forms including art direction, design, a collaborative poetry/visual art project, writing, and painting. She is an Assistant Professor at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, where she teaches illustration, drawing and design. She is a full-time Assistant Professor at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, where she has been teaching undergraduate and graduate students about drawing, visual culture, critical theory, pedagogy, illustration, and creative writing since 2007. Daniela has a particular interest in how food relates to social and environmental issues, and works with organizations such as Outstanding in the Field and Slow Food USA. She received her BA in studio art and environmental studies from The Evergreen State College, studied post-baccalaureate at The School of Visual Art and Pratt Institute, and received her MA in science illustration from the University of California at Santa Cruz.
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Senior designer

Chris Bell is a designer, photographer, and man about town who loves solving problems, hanging out with his family, and photographing animals at the zoo.
Web developer

Brandon Sorg is the brains behind Fine Print PDX, a printing studio and resource for photographers and artists. With a background in photography, he’s spent the last 10 years helping artists present themselves beautifully and professionally in print and on the web.

Though he is focusing primarily on fine art printing, he also offers other digital services including image editing, consultation, scanning, and artist websites for a few friends like Orlo and the Bear Deluxe.
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