Summit High School junior Cedar Zagurski loves to create new art. This summer, he got an opportunity to take his skills to a new level.

Cedar spent hours crafting large-scale chalk drawings, which are featured inside the offices of Visit Bend. Each year, the local group selects an artist to transform two large pillars in the office. Cedar is the youngest artist ever selected for this honor, known as the Pillars of Art.

For years, Cedar has been drawn to recreating hands and that plays out in his work on the pillars. One features unique depictions of hands interacting with the Central Oregon landscape. There's a hand pulling the sun up above the iconic outline of the Cascade mountain range. There's a hand shaking a salt shaker over the peaks, sprinkling snow. And there's a hand molding the shape of a crater.

Cedar had never worked with chalk before, so he spent months trying to master his technique on the driveway at his home.

"It's really quite an honor. Being able to see my art publicly displayed is really inspiring me to continue doing art. I don't want to stop, ever!" said Cedar.

Cedar fell in love with art while he was a seven-grader at Cascade Middle School. He signed up for art because he thought he wasn't very good at it and wanted to learn a new skill. He credits teacher Julia Reynolds, who is now at Pacific Crest, with helping him connect with art. "I owe so much to her and the inspiration she gave me. It was incredible."

Cedar also says Summit art teacher Ms. Houska has helped inspire him tremendously.

Cedar also loves math and science. Eventually he would like to have a career in engineering that combines math, science and art in order to create new ideas and concepts.

"No matter what I do — on the side, I want to have my own art studio."

Cedar, who grew up in Bend, is also a sprinter on the track team and works at a local bakery. Cedar is very close with his family, who he says are very supportive of him and his art.