Bloglander

Calling all artists and craftspeople — Terrain is now taking submissions for Bazaar, a new event scheduled for June 21. Like Terrain, the event is juried, but Bazaar is described as a “swap meet that builds community” and sounds sort of like real-life Etsy. Suggested items include photographs, paintings, prints, handmade or up-cycled furniture, clothing, candles, soap or really anything you made.

Submissions are due April 4. The location is still being finalized, and may be indoors or outdoors.

Compared to some other selective art fairs, Bazaar is meant to be financially accessible for all artists and all buyers. Half of what each vendor offers must be priced at less than $100, and the fee for a 10-by-10-foot booth space is only $50. (The booth fee for the same size space at ArtFest, for example, starts at $425.)

The idea behind Terrain has always been making the local art culture more vibrant and viable, and a big part of supporting young, emerging artists is creating more young art patrons.

“We’ve kind of realized in the past couple of years that one part of [supporting artists] is cultivating a young artist patronage, basically — so getting young people to choose local and handmade art as opposed to going to like World Market or Pier One,” Terrain co-founder Baumgarten said recently in a Spokane Film Project podcast.

An original painting may retail for several hundred dollars, for example, but then artists should also have prints at cheaper prices for people who can’t afford to spend a month’s rent check on art.

Also within the next couple of months, they’re planning to launch a Kickstarter campaign to help Terrain transition from an all-volunteer project to a full arts organization.

Check out the Bazaar submission form and rules here. Listen to the podcast where Baumgarten and Ginger Ewing talk more about the idea here. (The part specifically about Bazaar begins around 9:30.) If you’re looking for a little pre-Bazaar, pre-Terrain art fix, swing by Ewing’s inaugural Window Dressing display at 1011 W. First Ave.

Following the controversial firing of its former executive artistic director last summer, the Spokane Civic Theatre announced today that it hired a new artistic director. Keith Dixon, the managing artistic director for Theatre Baton Rouge for the past 10 seasons, will transition to his new position at the Civic over the next few months and start full-time in June.

“The Board of Directors is looking forward to Keith’s artistic leadership and to his bringing his own southern flavor to the Spokane Civic Theatre,” says Civic Board President Larry Wooley in the announcement.

Dixon’s first production here will be A Christmas Carol in the 2014-15 season.

Last July, the Civic’s Board of Directors fired executive artistic director Yvonne A.K. Johnson, who took charge of the theater in 2005, for reasons that the board has not fully explained. Johnson filed a wrongful termination suit and initially sought to block the production of Les Miserables. That request was dropped and the show went on, but the lawsuit is ongoing.

At Theatre Baton Rouge, Dixon also directed a production of Les Mis this past year.

You know those old ratty jeans that used to be new? Now they have holes and stains everywhere? That was our Visual Arts Tour map. We run coverage of the Visual arts tour twice a year and we always end up running the same ratty old map. So, digging through our archives for the 20th Anniversary issue, Lisa Waananen came across a early map that we used to run — illustrated by Ivan Munk — and it inspired us to throw out our old ratty jeans and try something new.

I reached out to Jacob Greif to see if he could take a crack at a new map — and he came back with pure awesomeness. All of Spokane's landmark buildings have been painstakingly recreated on this new map, but you won't be able to see the full thing until next week's issue (Feb. 13) hits the stands. Here is just a small taste.

Window Dressing, the new project on First Avenue that we told you about in the Ideas Issue, is now up for viewing. Work from local artists is presented like a classic department store window display, and it will change seasonally.

Featured artists include Chase Halland, Toby Keough and Tiffany Patterson. The book featured in the display is Live Now. See it yourself at 1011 W. First Ave.

The building is best known in recent years as the home of Terrain, and the new display is a way to showcase local art and keep the building dynamic even when there’s nothing on the inside. Also keep an eye out for Terrain’s new art event, Bazaar, scheduled for June 21.

We have fielded a few calls here at Inlander HQ about who exactly every person on this week's cover is, so hopefully this will help:

1. Bill Iffrig
2. Lil Bub
3. Pope Benedict
4. Paula Deen
5. Prince William, Kate and baby George
6. (L to R) President Obama, Miley Cyrus, Paul Walker, Pope Francis
7. Cory Monteith
8. Dave (minion)
9. Healthcare Computer from the '80s
10. Kimye
11. Nelson Mandela
12. Cami Bradley
13. Bruce and Kris Jenner
14. Ed Koch
15. Mohamed Morsi
16. James Gandolfini
17. Angelina Jolie
18. Tony Stark
19. Rob Ford
20. Margaret Thatcher
21. Ted Cruz
22. Amanda Bynes
23. Katherine Sebelius
24. Tom Foley
25. Som Jordan
26. Hugo Chavez
27. Reese Witherspoon

Out with the old, in with the new. While not all of the gallery shows this month are new, per se, there's a chance that you still haven't seen everything on display around town, so don't pass up what could be the last chance to see many of the collections being featured at this month's First Friday arts event. 

Also new this month, Google Maps has updated (and renamed to Google Maps Engine) its custom map service to fit in with the new-ish Google Maps design and interface that was rolled out in mid-2013. Fancy, huh? 

Anyhow, we've compiled an easy-to-use map of all this month's First Friday events happening tonight. It's a shorter list than usual, but we have a feeling most galleries and artists are gearing up for February's big Visual Arts Tour (Feb. 7-8), which is like First Friday but on a much bigger scale.

I always struggle to make a cover that tries to hit all of the top stories from an entire year. I decided to take a crack at a Sgt. Pepper sendup that would try to feature all of the people who made headlines in 2013. From famous deaths to just major stories (I'm sure I didn't get all of them), many clipping paths later and help from our designer Jessie Spaccia, this is what I ended up with.

After I had the main concept coming together, I thought it might be funny to pay homage to all of the Paul Is Dead conspiracy theorists who use the Sgt. Pepper cover as their holy grail of clues. One of the biggest clues they give is the open hand above Paul McCartney's head, which according to them shows "an Eastern religion's way of symbolizing evil or death."

So now Iron Man has his hand open above Paul Walker's head. And out of the four main characters, Paul Walker is the only one who is actually dead. Keep looking, I might have put a few more clues in there as well ;)

DAEDSIREKLAWLUAP

If you haven’t seen it yet, there are only a few more weeks to see “SPOMa: Spokane Modern Architecture” at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture. The celebration of Spokane’s mid-century architecture is open through Jan. 12. (If you attend First Night Spokane, MAC admission on New Year’s Day is free. Campbell House Holidays runs Dec. 20 to Jan. 5.)

We wrote about SPOMa way back in March when the exhibit opened:

Today, people say mid-century architecture was a movement of rebellion — a visual middle finger to the columns and gabled roofs that filled American suburbs. And in places like Spokane, the modern designs that started to pop up between 1948 and 1973 turned the cityscape upside down. Modernists posed questions: why are buildings made the way they are? What should come first: form or function?

“It was meant to be architecture for the masses. It was essentially a means by which people were saying, ‘You need a bank, but why are you making it look like a Greek temple?” says Aaron Bragg, a copywriter at Spokane design studio helveticka. “It was a rejection of these cookie-cutter designs and styles and going back to basics.”

The exhibit is dense with information for design and architecture fans, and easy to breeze through for those with a more casual interest. The modernist vision is immersive, and you’ll see buildings in Spokane differently when you leave.

See an insightful writeup from Karli Ingersoll here and more photos from Chad Ramsey here. The following timelapse video shows what went into setting up the exhibit, and there’s also a trailer for the exhibit’s mini-documentary here.

Coming up next at the MAC is “100 Stories - A Centennial Exhibition,” which commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Eastern Washington State Historical Society in April 2016. Along with many artifacts never before on display, the exhibit will include a series of events and programs.

The Spokane Civic Theatre’s production of Les Miserables will see another run next year, this time accompanied by the Spokane Symphony at the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox, it was announced today at a press conference. The show will last one weekend only, March 1 and 2.

Showing in October, the Civic’s performance was so well received tickets were completely sold out and another weekend was added to accommodate the demand.

“The community was extraordinarily impressed by the caliber of Civic’s Les Mis performances this fall,” says Brenda Nienhouse, Spokane Symphony Executive Director.

Because of the production's popularity, the Civic's Jim Swoboda, who played Jean Valjean, had the idea for doing the show on a grander scale and suggested a collaboration between the theater and symphony. This led to a discussion with Nienhouse and Civic’s managing director, Jim Humes, whose organizations have never teamed up before.

“We’ll see how this goes and we hope to be able to work together again,” Humes says.
The March production will feature most of the original cast, props and costumes from the Civic’s earlier run, but some of the set pieces will need to be resized to fit the Fox stage. The symphony will play from the back of the stage while the well-loved musical unfolds in front. Resident Conductor Morihiko Nakahara will lead the orchestra.

Tickets for Les Mis will go on sale tomorrow, Dec. 18, with prices ranging from $40 to $125. Tickets can be purchased at ticketswest.com.

See the Inlander’s preview of the Civic’s original performance here. 

We're all well aware of the freezing temperatures outside (currently it's 18 degrees) — so let's shudder once at the thought and move on, because despite the icy air, it's still First Friday. 

For the last First Friday arts celebration of 2013, event organizers have a special treat in store to lure us away from the warmth of our homes and offices, though it's important to note that most of tonight's events are indoors.

The exception is the first-ever First Friday Food Truck Rally, featuring six of Spokane's mobile food vendors setting up shop on the brick-paved stretch of Wall Street, between Main and Riverside. Hold off on eating before the event, because you'll get to choose your dinner from the menus of the Bistro Box, Couple of Chefs Catering, The Jamaican Jerk Pan, Azar's, King of Tacos and The Scoop.

It's a good idea to wear lots of layers, but there's no need to look like a snow-suited mummy — there will be heat lamps at the rally.

Though the food is surely a big draw, First Friday is still largely about local art. We've put together a Google map noting all the artists and groups showing at local businesses and galleries this month to make it easy to see what's going on where as you're out and about. If you'd rather see all of the events for tonight in one place, listed alphabetically, go to our permanent First Friday page here.