Bloglander

Ten years after launching as a one-night Spokane-centric art festival and celebration of local talent, what we know of as Terrain has grown into a multipronged beast of creativity and innovation, incorporating everything from a permanent art gallery, pop-up shop, concert and event space, to promotion of events throughout town and throughout the year.

With hopes of not just maintaining its current offerings, but finding ever more ways to support local artists, Terrain's board made the decision to hire a full-time executive director. The position is funded with help from the Inland Northwest Community Foundation and will focus on development (i.e., fundraising) as well as community outreach.

"We've always been powered by the efforts of tons of really incredible volunteers, and that's not going to change," notes Terrain co-founder Luke Baumgarten, via email. "But as the organization matures and we take on more and more programs to support artists and culture creators, our staffing hasn't kept up."

Indeed, Baumgarten notes the Terrain organization only has one full-time employee (program director and co-founder Ginger Ewing), one half-time operations director in Jackie Caro and a half-time manager of the Pop-Up Shop. Finding a full-time executive director capable of raising funds, he says, will help establish a professional structure capable of greater supporting Terrain's creative endeavors.

"We can't hire people without money, and development is one part of the organization that has never been as robust as our programming and other work," Baumgarten says.

Interested parties can find a full job description and apply for the position through the job posting at LinkedIn, Facebook and Express Employment's website. The job will pay between $46,000 and $50,000 annually.

"We're all tremendously hopeful that getting this piece in place is going to make an immediate impact on Terrain, and that, in couple years, we'll all look back and say, 'Damn, that was smart. Why didn't we do that sooner?'" Baumgarten says.

When Jen Landis isn't on stage as a dancer for the band Super Sparkle or jamming out with her band Mama Doll, she's often preoccupied with helping refugees in the area through her employer Global Neighborhood, a local nonprofit that aids in employment of refugees. Part of her job involves coming up with creative ideas to raise more proceeds for Global Neighborhood. Her most recent endeavor is a dance party fashion show on Friday, March 30, at the Bartlett.

If you want to support Global Neighborhood in a tangible way — besides shopping at their thrift shop — buy tickets and show up to dance. Although Landis says there is no apparent theme for the show, everyone can expect a killer playlist. Drinks and snacks will be available at the open bar.

The models strutting are all locals whose style Landis admires for one reason or another. Most fashion shows have a designer whose work is showcased, but here the models have more liberty and autonomy. Their task is to put together an outfit from Global Neighborhood Thrift. Landis will play the role of emcee and host, as she'll be making a commentary about the models' ensembles. The runway portion will run for a half hour and then everyone can groove to the music together.

Landis explains that two-thirds of GN's operating costs are covered through the thrift store and the remaining third comes from fundraising. The money that's raised will go towards keeping the store open, such as paying rent and salaries.

The aim is to also raise awareness of Global Neighborhood and local refugees.

"We want to expand the knowledge of what refugees are going through — that they live in this community, and that they're as much of this community as anyone else," Landis says.

Refugees employed at GN are usually on a six-month employment duration, or a job training program, while they take ESL classes. Most of the employees at GN don't speak English. Having experience at GN prepares them for other jobs by helping them build various skills and understand workplace customs and dynamics. Sudan, Somalia, Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan are just a sampling of the countries where the refugees at GN come from.

Landis wants to encourage people to imagine life as a refugee by mentally putting oneself in their shoes and trying to fathom what it would feel like to leave one's life and home country behind, especially not of their own volition.

Between 1801 and 1812, Northwest explorer David Thompson of Canadian fame established two trade routes across the Rocky Mountains and surveyed the 1,250-mile course of the Columbia River. Using new research, Spokane author and Northwest historian Jack Nisbet explains how Thompson experienced “the full sweep of the human and natural history etched across the Columbia drainage.”

Nisbet will discuss Thompson and the boats of the indigenous peoples used on Lake Pend Oreille and Priest River in the early 1800s for an event titled "Canoes Along the River." The discussion is free and open to the public at Priest River’s Historic Beardmore Building at 6:30 pm on Saturday, March 31.

As fur agent David Thompson traveled the waterways of the Inland Northwest in the early 1800s, he saw several different styles of vessels. Thompson admired the bark and dugout canoes of the Kootenai and Salish people who guided him, learned how to make use of local materials, and eventually constructed a series of cedar plank canoes to move his goods and furs. In this slide presentation, author Jack Nisbet will combine period journals and artwork with replica canoe craft to try and figure out what was floating on the river.

Nisbet wrote a book detailing Thompson’s journeys titled The Mapmaker’s Eye: David Thompson on the Columbia Plateau. Though Nisbet is widely known in Canada, he is relatively unknown in the U.S., despite having informed some of the travels of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Check out what's happening March 17, 2018:

Spokane St. Patrick's Day Parade
When: Noon
Where: Downtown Spokane
Hosted annually by the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick. Proceeds from the parade are donated to several area nonprofit organizations to support the community. Free.

Coeur d'Alene St. Patrick's Day Parade
When: 4 pm
Where: Downtown Coeur d'Alene
Where: Parade starts at 4 pm at Eighth and Sherman in downtown Coeur d'Alene and will end at First Street. This family-friendly event is open to the public. Free.

Garland District St. Patrick's Day Pub Crawl
When: 6 pm
Price: $7
Don your best kelly green attire and hit the streets of North Spokane to celebrate America’s favorite Irish holiday, in 2018 conveniently occuring on a Saturday. This year also marks the second annual Garland District St. Paddy’s Pub Crawl, with stops at some of the many bars and restaurants along the quaint neighborhood’s streets. Join other revelers at the crawl’s six locations: Beerocracy, Bon Bon, Garland Drinkery, Revolver North, Garland Pub and The Brown Derby. Get a wristband when you start and make sure to check in at each bar to be entered into a drawing after you depart the final stop of the night. In addition to the many eateries of Garland, two local food trucks, Crate and Skewers, will be serving up tasty eats to hungry bar hoppers.

St. Paddy's at nYne
When: Doors open at 7 am
Where: nYne, 232 W. Sprague
Music and fun gets started early. The line-up: 9 am, DJ Breece; 1 pm, The Shea Tea Folkin' Irish Band; 4 pm, DJ MC Squared; 8 pm, Angus Scott Pipe Band; 8:15 pm, DJ C-Mad.

Whistle Punk St. Paddy's Day Celebration
When: 10 am-11 pm
Where: Whistle Punk Brewing, 122 S. Monroe
Featuring the release of three Irish inspired beers including a dry stout served on nitro!

Irish Dancers on St. Patrick's Day
When: 11 and 11:30 am
Where: Hotel RL by Red Lion at the Park, 303 W. North River Dr.
Join local Irish dancers at Hotel RL's Living Stage for two quick pre-parade performances at 11 and 11:30 am. Free.

St Patrick’s Day Bash feat. Dino/Soars
When:  6-10 pm
Where: Midtown Pub, 826 N. Fourth
Drink specials and Irish food. Free.

All Things Irish
When: 10 am-5 pm
Where: All Things Irish, 315 E. Sherman Ave., Coeur d’Alene
Live Irish music with Deep Roots at 10 am and the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department Pipe Band at 3:30 pm. There will be a photo booth and face painting. Free

O’Doherty’s celebration
Where: O’Doherty’s Irish Grille, 525 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.
Doors open at 9 am on Saturday. $5 cover all day. Live Irish music 10 am- 6pm. DJ Greg McGuire 7 pm-midnight. Live bag pipe shows throughout the day.

St Patrick's Day Parking Lot Party
When: Noon onward
Where: Capone’s Pub and Grill, 751 N. Fourth Ave., Coeur d’Alene
Music, with a DJ kicking things off in the parking lot at noon, Bones & Bones taking the stage at 4. There will be tents, heaters, beer and liquor bars, food and of course the bagpipers! Free.

St Patrick's Day at Bellweather
When: 1 pm- 10 pm on Saturday
Where: Bellwether Brewing Co., 2019 N Monroe
They've decided to release St Patrick's beers on his actual feast day, including two Irish style beers: a red and a stout. Irish dancers from 4-5pm by MSD Irish Dance Academy.

Coeur d'Irish, a St. Patty's Day Party!
When: 5:30 pm-midnight
Where: The Coeur d'Alene Resort, 115 S Second Ave.
The entire community is invited to attend Coeur d'Alene's largest St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Showcasing the energetic sounds of Irish musical performances and Irish delights of corned beef and cabbage, Irish stew and soda bread. There will be Irish bagpipes, Irish dancers, Irish food, Irish whiskey and of course green beer. Music will be provided by The Rub. Tickets are $40 per person. All funds raised will support the Coeur d’Alene Rotary Club’s community service grants and projects throughout Coeur d’Alene, along with the Club’s International service projects.

We like to post about cute and otherwise happy cat-related things for Cat Friday, but this week, we're here to share the unfortunate news that one of the world's most famous celebri-cats, Bento the Keyboard Cat, has passed away.

We learned the news this morning after seeing this video posted on Keyboard Cat's Facebook page:


The laid-back orange tabby owned by Spokane artist Charlie Schmidt was the second cat to take on the official title of Keyboard Cat. The original viral video featuring Schmidt's orange feline, Fatso, was recorded on VHS back in 1984.

Bento was adopted from the local shelter SpokAnimal back in 2010 and was 9 years old when he passed away last week, on March 8.

The No. 1 box office slot is still Black Panther's to lose, but Lara Croft is back on the big screen to challenge its reign. Here's a full list of the week's other theatrical openings.

7 DAYS IN ENTEBBE
In 1976, an Air France flight was hijacked by German reactionaries, with Israeli Defense Forces swooping in to intervene. It's an event that's been dramatized many times before; Daniel Brühl and Rosamund Pike play the hijackers here. Rated PG-13.

I CAN ONLY IMAGINE
A faith-based drama about Bart Millard, the frontman of Christian rock group MercyMe, who escaped his abusive childhood through music. The title is lifted from the band's signature song. Rated PG.

LOVE, SIMON
Popular teenager Simon (Nick Robinson) begins anonymous email correspondence with another boy, only to discover they're the only gay kids in their school, and they're both in the closet. Our critic Eric D. Snider calls this a funny, sweet and uplifting coming-out and coming-of-age comedy. Rated PG-13.

TOMB RAIDER
Videogame heroine Lara Croft returns to the big screen, this time played by Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander, in an origin story detailing the famed treasure hunter's first adventure on a fabled Japanese island. Rated PG-13.

Six new films are hitting Spokane theaters in the week following the Oscars, among them Ava DuVernay's anticipated adaptation of a kid-lit classic, a Spanish-language film that won big at the Academy Awards and a critically lauded black comedy.

Will any challenge Black Panther's box office reign? Doubtful.

A FANTASTIC WOMAN
The most recent Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, Sebastián Lelio’s drama stars newcomer Daniela Vega as a transgender waitress and lounge singer who falls in love with a much older man. When he dies, she finds herself shunned by his family. Rated R.

GRINGO
In this action comedy, a hapless pharmaceuticals rep is sent to Mexico to deliver a cache of the company’s new weed pills, only to be kidnapped and held for ransom. David Oyelowo, Joel Edgerton and Charlize Theron star. Rated R.

THE HURRICANE HEIST
A group of criminals plot to rob the U.S. Treasury, hoping a looming Category 5 tropical storm will serve as the perfect distraction. The weather has other plans. We’re still not totally convinced this is a real movie. Rated PG-13.

THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT
It’s been a decade since those creepy masked home invaders terrorized Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman, and they’re back to stand ominously in the shadows while menacing another family on a very unfortunate road trip. This has been in various states of production for nearly a decade; not a good sign. Rated R.

THOROUGHBREDS
Two rich adolescent girls rekindle a friendship and discover they might share sociopathic tendencies, especially when one of them suggests they indulge in a little homicide. Writer-director Cory Finley’s feature debut has been likened to the pitch-black teen comedy Heathers. Rated R.

A WRINKLE IN TIME
Ava DuVernay’s adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s beloved children’s book about a curious young girl who must embark on an interdimensional quest after her scientist father goes missing, her every move guided by three magical beings. Rated PG.

A pawn can become the queen if it reaches the end of the chess board. While this serves as a technical rule for chess players, it was also a life lesson for Phiona Mutsei, a Ugandan chess champion who will be visiting the Endicott School and St. John School on Friday, March 9.

Mutsei's story is perhaps best known for the 2016 Disney film Queen of Katwe, which details her life growing up in the slum of Katwe, Uganda, as a 10-year-old girl. She meets a chess coach at a missionary program in her hometown and becomes fascinated with the game, ultimately earning three championship titles and competing internationally.

Accompanying Mutsei is Benjamin Mukumbya, who is also depicted in the film. The two chess players are students at Northwest University in Kirkland, Washington, after earning full-tuition scholarships. The two students compete on the college's chess team.

"They grew up in the slums of Uganda, so they had a lot to overcome," says Tia Langston, Endicott branch manager with Whitman County Library's, which is partnering with the schools for the event. "It's pretty amazing that the game of chess was their stepping stool."

Mutsei and Mukumbya will be at the Endicott School at 9 am and 2:30 pm and at St. John School at 10:50 and 11:20 am. All discussions are open to the public, but the later events are for older students and a more general audience, Langston says. 

"We want to introduce kids o a new game, but also ... to show these kids you can be given very little and do big things with that little bit," she says. 

The Spokane Symphony announced its five finalists to take over as music director when Eckart Preu heads on down the road at the end of the 2018-19 season.

Each of the five finalists, drawn from 188 applicants, will come to town next season to conduct one of the symphony's classics concerts, as well as make the rounds of meeting symphony staff, supporters and musicians.

Here's a quick look at the finalists, and when they'll be in town next season:

Morihiko Nakahara — Hey, you know this guy! He's been resident conductor of the Spokane Symphony for the past 10 years after serving five years as associate conductor. He's also the director of orchestral studies at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He'll conduct the symphony shows Oct. 6-7.

Real-life actors set to portray imaginary characters from the mind of Spokane-based author Stephanie Oakes' in an upcoming screen adaptation of her award-winning novel The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly have been announced.

Oakes' debut young adult novel follows handless protagonist Minnow Bly as she recalls events leading up to the murder of a man who led the cult her family belonged to. The novel, published in 2015, is being adapted for the small screen by Facebook's fledgling streaming service, Facebook Watch. Raelle Tucker, former executive producer of True Blood, and that series' director Scott Winant, are leading the planned 10-episode series, which has the shorter working title Sacred Lies.

Playing Minnow is 20-year-old actress Elena Kampouris, whose acting credits include the shows Before I Fall and American Odyssey, as well as the feature film My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.

Angel, Minnow's cellmate at the juvenile detention facility she's held following the earlier events of the book's dual-timeline plot, is being played by Kiana Madeira, who recently starred in the dystopian Syfy series Dark Matter.

Kevin Carroll is set to play the forensic psychologist who questions Minnow about what's happened to her.

Ryan Robbins is playing Minnow's father, Samuel, who is ordered by the cult's leader to cut off his daughter's hands as punishment for her disobedience.

Sacred Lies will be free to stream by any Facebook user when it's released, although no date has been set yet. Filming will take place in the Northwest, according to Oakes.

"Getting to see the characters I created be interpreted by actors is going to be amazing and surreal and probably strange," Oakes told the Inlander after the series was announced.

"I think the idea of a young actress playing the role of Minnow could be a really cool role for someone, especially someone starting out. There's a lot there for a young actress, so that is exciting."

Oakes shared her excitement Friday afternoon over the official casting announcement on Facebook: