The Spovangelist

As we’ve intimated before, Spokane is enjoying a boom in community-based performance art. This makes sense for a large town immured in a history of socioeconomic challenges. Since we don’t have much luxury in the way of high-falutin gallery art, our artists turn to the streets to make work that is meaningful and [...]

They say an effective communication technique is to “tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em, tell ‘em, and then tell ‘em what you told ‘em.” That is what I appreciate about Gabriel and Rimas’s proactive three-pronged approach to marketing Chicken Sh@#: Exploring Urban Ecosystems. Instead of issuing a wan invitation to an opening night event [...]

“In Death and Life Jacobs described in detail how powerful forces were hurting cities, both physically and metaphysically. She discussed the importance of neighborhoods, and what made one block friendly, but another deadly. She talked about the need for old buildings, and faulted restrictive zoning regulations as often harmful to a neighborhood’s vitality. She castigated [...]

It is no secret that I’m a huge fan of local artist Gabriel Brown. Gabriel is part of a growing handful of young locals (without university employment or a large commercial following) who shows his work outside the greater Spokane area. Most recently his Great Tasting Goodness exhibit was displayed at the Mt. Hood Visual [...]

Tuesday I went through all the rigamarole of signing in for a badge to attend a meeting at City Hall. Wednesday I listened to a fascinating, albeit fanciful, presentation by an architecture student on converting our downtown skywalks into hydroponic juice farms. Today I take these two themes and mash them into one to share [...]

Spokane needs a dedicated street fashion photographer.

Portrait by Austinspace
We’ve issued an appeal to round out the local blogosphere before, but we’ve learned if you really want something done you’d better be prepared to roll up your sleeves and do it yourself.
Consider: There is a world-renowned street fashion blog called the Sartorialist. It was [...]

This year Trick or Vote went down in Spokane and enjoyed a respectable showing for such an unconventional first time event.

Despite the descriptive title,  most people’s first reaction is “Trick or what?” The idea of adding political engagement into a holiday festivity is just not intuitive for most. Once people grasp the novelty and purpose [...]

Nobody can escape the fact that all kinds of nonprofits, civic institutions and businesses these days are abuzz with how to take advantage of social media. The mania has reached such epic proportions that specialized marketing consultants have come out of the woodwork to meet the demand.
Of course the mystique about things like Facebook is [...]

There are so many layers and possible directions for talking about the Community Bill of Rights that no one forum can encompass all the opinions, points and perspectives that concerned citizens care to offer. The issues are so stirring that they have even begun to surface on other Spovangelist threads that have nothing to do [...]

Reprinted with permission from the Youth Sustainability Council.
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Last Friday, commuters and downtown dwellers were confronted with an unusual sight on Main Street. Sandwiched between parked cars in front of Starbucks was a miniature park and garden of local produce put there by members of the YSC as part of International [...]