Photo by Mark Anthony

I knew I had a unique perspective on the panel as a younger lady, but the more interesting contrast came from my experience as a nonprofit professional. There were a few questions about setting personal boundaries in the online arena. In the nonprofit world, people tend relate to their work more intimately which can make it easier to share things of genuine interest. Still some asked about a nonprofit “secret to success.” The panel agreed that by-and-large the social media strategies that work for nonprofits are the same as they are for individuals and businesses.

Aside from all the minutia and specifics, I was surprised at the number of people in the audience who were still struggling to “get their heads in the game.” To these kind people, Chris had the following to say:

Unlike Chris I tend to baby people and reassure them that they will get the hang of things eventually. Chris’s approach is much better. People need to quit making a science out of it and roll up their sleeves and start posting!  Another lesson that hit home was the importance  and power of video. The Spovangelist currently has an empty YouTube page. You can expect that to start filling up with film clips very soon.

“Check out my turnips! I grew these!”

The last take home message for me was being more fearless about the frivolous. Everyone has had to ask themselves “To post, or not to post?” Most people don’t want to hear about what you ate for dinner that night. So when it came to my prize turnips I was definitely leaning towards keeping these beauties to myself. Thanks to Chris for popping my turnip!

The Rocks of Sharon at Iller Creek.

Up in the hills behind childhood homes, we noticed signs of runoff washing soil down into the creek bed below. Could these ruts somehow be prevented? Were our footsteps adding to the erosion? Then, as if by miracle, we ascended the next ridge to find a crew of several dozen Washington Trails Association volunteers addressing this very issue.

Clearing brush for new “water stable” trail (left) and old trail gulley (right).

We thanked them for their generous public service, and ventured on as the very first group of recreational hikers to set foot on the new, breathtakingly scenic erosion-resistant trail.

From I-90:

Take Argonne Road exit, #287
Drive south on Argonne Road
Continue past Sprague Avenue onto Dishman-Mica Road
Turn right at Schafer Road stoplight
Turn right at stop sign on 44th Avenue
Turn left on Farr Road, continue to stop sign
Turn right on Holman Road, drive 0.75 miles to switchback
Park right before the switchback at the conservation area entrance
Iller Creek Conservation Area is on both the right and left of the creek

For more information about this location, visit Spokane County Parks and Recreation, sign up for a tour, or volunteer with the Dishman Ridge Dream Trail Team.

Crystal Gartner

Crystal has done an amazing job working for Conservation Northwest for many years now to promote collaborative processes that will ultimately lead to wilderness designation and other protection for wild places in Eastern Washington. Just last night she organized, on very short notice, a meeting of the Northwest Forestry Coalition that was attended by about 100 people, including political figures from liberal to conservative persuasions.

Jace Bylenga

Jace represents a whole new crop of pioneering young men in Spokane that like to get out into the great outdoors and do what they can to protect our natural areas. He was an Environmental Outreach Coordinator at the Center for Community Action and Service Learning at Gonzaga, and helped connect students with local organizations such as the Spokane River Clean-up, Sierra Club’s Inner City Outings, and many more.

Green Drinks Girls

Tracy, Alli and Cassie (pictured in that order) are the life of any Green Drinks gathering in Spokane. Every month people who are interested in the environment meet up at these informal social events to catch up with people they know and make new contacts. They include a lively mixture of people from nonprofits, academia, government and business. The next Spokane Green Drinks will be held at Herbal Essence on May 11, 5:30 to 7:00+pm. Come along and you’ll be made more than welcome by these lovely ladies!

Adam Brown

Adam needs no professional titles to shore up his status as a crazy loving local hippy. Let’s have his favorite quote do the work for him instead.

“If we grew our own food, we wouldn’t waste a third of it as we do today. If we made our own tables and chairs, we wouldn’t throw them out the moment we changed the interior decor. If we had to clean our own drinking water, we probably wouldn’t defecate in it.”
-Mark Boyle, Freeconomy

Kitty Klitzke

Kitty is a local environmental and social justice advocate who also happens to be a fourth generation Spokanite. Her service in the US Army inspired her to seek out other ways to serve her country and the planet. After studying art in college, she got involved in the Fair Trade movement and then went to work as a Program Outreach Director for The Lands Council. Now she is a Field Organizer for Futurewise, and is currently exhibiting a show called Blueprints in the room in which she is pictured (Saranac Building lobby, 25 W. Main).

Shallan Dawson

Shallan is wearing a sexy Sustainable September Spokane T-shirt at last year’s Kickoff Luncheon. As the Strategic Coordinator for this year’s program, she’ll be doing more than just serving you delicious food from Sante. She’ll be slinging sponsorships and offering up a lot of other ways to get involved with this month-long affair. Click here to read more about Shallan’s, ahem, Fields of Gold, and her amazing work at the Gaia House in West Central.

If you are a local Earth Lovin’ Hottie and you are not pictured above, my apologies. There are simply too many of you to list!

Artistic Japanese manhole covers.

With all the attention paid to the recent idea of putting notifications near storm water drains for Earth Day, I wonder if the winning design will pay heed in some way to protecting the river. I think it would add some dimension to our local identity if the image ingrained in such a civic symbol did not include one of the stereotypical icons of the area. Marmots, Clock Towers, etc. etc. You know what they are. We love them, but we also overuse them.

Marmot mural by Tom Quinn

The tight age limit for this competition is another example of having too narrow of an understanding of what it means to support and recognize “youth.” Because a lot of services and programs are mediated through or significantly impacted by the school system, our culture has unintentionally created an arbitrary cut-off point at age 18.

Now that we are in a knowledge-based economy, functional adulthood is getting pushed further and further out, like it or not. If you are one of the many young Spokanites that are beyond “high school age” but did not make the immediate transition to college, good luck trying to integrate with your community. Many local youth serving agencies see the dire need of young people who are over 18, and thus regularly serve an audience up to around age 22. More on the cultural consequences of this mindset later.

For now I’d like to close with the language on a flier that was tucked in peoples’ utility bills (not so for those of us who prefer paperless billing):

The design should be welcoming and an enhancement to the visual appearance of the City of Spokane manhole covers. The design should appeal to a broad age range and should be uplifting and stimulating to the spirit, intellect and physical senses. The design should be reflective of the City of Spokane and communicate a sense of place. Designs can reflect the environment, nature, water, water quality or the landscape of the Pacific Northwest. Designs may not be offensive or serve as commercial advertising particular goods, services, or businesses.

]]> http://spovangelist.com/put-a-lid-on-it/feed/ 3 http://spovangelist.com/from-spokane-with-art/ http://spovangelist.com/from-spokane-with-art/#comments Sun, 21 Mar 2010 02:03:38 +0000 The Spovangelist http://spovangelist.com/?p=1842 The RiverSpeak Arts Collective has kept up with a great series of monthly creative challenges designed to inspire collaboration and build community. Last month was a Limerick Challenge, and this month is a Postcard Challenge.

“Spokane Has Art” is not the Deviant Art group that proclaims:

This group is to support the belief that Spokane art exists.
Feel free to invite other Spokanites and ask questions.

Spokane Bus by Justin Aerni

“Spokane Has Art” is an invitation to send original art to friends in other cities with the phrase incorporated into the postcard design. It is a simpler version of the Spocare Package idea I pitched back in June.

How often can we say it? Spokane DOES have excellent arts venues and opportunities, but so often we are judged by our big-city neighbors. It’s time to set the record straight by sending a little artistic love snail-mail style.

For April’s Creative Challenge, we’re asking our members to create artistic postcard images (about 4″ x 6″) that will be printed and sent to artists and art collectives in other cities.

You may use any visual medium you wish, as long as it is your own, original work, and the words “SPOKANE HAS ART” are incorporated on the postcard.

1. CREATE your “Spokane has art” postcard
2. SCAN your postcard image
3. SUBMIT/UPLOAD it at http://riverspeak.net/challenge by April 15th

We look forward to receiving your submission!

If you live outside Spokane and would like to receive a handmade postcard, send your name and mailing address to thespovangelist [at] gmail [dot] com and I’ll do my best to hook you up!

• Show your support for this project on the Facebook event here.

You’ve probably heard that Spokane has weathered the economic downturn relatively well. Partly because we never had that much hot air to loose in the first place, and partly because of our relatively diversified economic base.

We’ve noticed more and more twenty-somethings returning home after getting priced out of the larger cities they stayed in after college. This is a great opportunity for our community to “capture” these people for good so Spokane can come out swinging as the economy eventually recovers.

Increasingly, people will be moving to Spokane because it is the ideal place to live the kind of lifestyle they want to live, as opposed to just a cheap place to tide over the economic storm. Spokane will offer an atmosphere where people can launch new careers instead of just taking the first “easy” bread and butter gig that comes their way. Just. You. Wait.

The first of two new stores I’ve been thrilled to discover over the past few weeks is Fringe and Fray. It is like Spokane’s very own mini upscale Buffalo Exchange, without the grunginess and holier-than-thou hipster attitudes. This elegant little store features men’s clothing as well as women’s, which is unique among independent boutiques in our town. Aside from the great mix of vintage and modern styles, accessories, footwear, denim, jewelry, jackets and more, the prices are unbeatable. I expect that they may eventually go up a bit as the store tests what our market will bear, so go in now (1325 W 1st Ave, Suite 102) for affordable duds you won’t believe.

Second hand is not only the economical thing to do, it is environmentally friendly as well. While much of what is in the store currently comes from the owners’ personal collections, they offer in store credit for high quality items that fit their aesthetic. Seller be aware, they do not offer a donation service for items they decide not to take, so be prepared to pack/bike out some of what you bring in.

If buying second hand clothing could be likened to preserving foods so you can enjoy them longer, then buying fabric to make something yourself is like buying in bulk. Don’t know how to make dresses and hand bags and don’t want to take the time to learn? No problem, owner Ari has dozens of handmade options for your purchasing pleasure, and will do custom orders as well.

Buttercuppity was online well before they opened their storefront in Steamplant Square (159 S. Lincoln, Suite 165), and appear to have a strong local following. Going into the store to gaze at all the beautiful bright patterns is enough to cure anyone’s seasonal affective disorder. I’m impressed by the personable outreach efforts of this small business, and am looking forward to sewing projects yet to come!

• Fringe and Fray on Facebook – They actually post special deals here!
• Buttercuppity on Facebook – Great sense of humor.

Can you name every mural in this video? Do you recognize all the different neighborhoods? I love how uniquely Spokane this is, yet the pavilion and clock tower are nowhere in sight.

How cool is it that this band held their last CD release party at a grange out in Colville? I want to go!

• Spokane “The Band”
• Ghost Mice by The Finger
• Riverfront Park by Ajax Starglider

This is the internet equivalent of reading tea leaves. It is pretty clear there is a good degree of randomness in the formula, and the results are drawn from a given homepage as opposed to the entire website. So what can we divine from this mashup?

• We like people.
• Dark blonds have excellent appeal.
• We believe in local giving.
• You should go to Caterina, it might surprise you.
• Yes, there is something fashionable around Spokane!
• We’re excited about new worm bins in December.
• Our town has many young rich groups. (Hmm, really?)
• In this context we seem like a valley girl.

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 one of the first in its genre  many years ago and helped to set the stage for the dizzying number of street fashion blogs that are around today. The basic format is a regular digest of full-length portraits taken of interesting-looking people on the street, commentary optional. The appeal? You get to gawk and opine all from the comfort of your own computer. People watching at its anonymous best.

Now some might scoff at the prospect of true fashion in Spokane. To those (you know who you are) I say “get over it!” Fashion is not about striving to look like a Nordstrom’s catalog, it is about self-expression and people relating to the social and cultural context to which they belong. People who don’t have the luxury of being chronically self-conscious are some of the most beautiful and interesting looking around.

Who might be caught in the lens of the Spotorialist? The answer is anyone. Everyone. It could be the punked-out tween by the Bloomsday runners that actually manages to pull it all off. It could be the stately grandmother in an over-sized pea coat inching her way back to the car after a show at the Fox. It would be that girl with the red glasses who works at CUES, and the painfully pretty barristas at Madeline’s just down the street.

The bus station is also ripe for the shooting. Just this morning we saw a bombshell blond of a basketball player. She was wearing Ugg boots (a fashion faux pas seemingly everywhere except for Spokane – OK, maybe even here too) with these awkwardly cut-off gray sweat shorts.  The look was topped with a bulky white cable knit sweater and a slouchy black purse. To describe it sounds appallingly generic, but I swear, there was something intimidatingly sexy and slightly off about this girl. It would take a picture to believe it.

Half a block later I rode right past this crazy skinny androgynous looking kid in a trench coat and nothing else, save some black heavy-soled boots and a pair of bright blue sun glasses. His hair was slicked back on his skull. Some people in this town know exactly who they are and they don’t give two cents about contradicting the omnipresent mainstream. They aren’t different for the sake of being different like the masses of hipsters in Portland, all scrambling to differentiate at once. No. They are simply raw and unedited versions of their adult selves.  Sometimes the gamers hanging around Merlyn’s are the most creatively dressed dudes in town.

Another thing the Spotorialist would do is help dispel the ridiculous notion that there isn’t *any* ethnic diversity in Spokane. The attractive young black man riding his chopper bike on the sidewalk around the smoke shop would get captured. The ultra-preppy Saudi students that have taken up residence at Starbucks would be in there too. Mukogawa women in Riverfront Park, the traditionally clad Indian girl getting into a minivan outside Bollywood Video – these are the fascinating, sometimes striking faces of Spokane.

They deserve to be documented, iconized. Through such self-reflective photojournalism a community can uncover it own unique style. We have something special to offer here. It is just a matter of seeking it out and appreciating what is often staring you in the face.

]]> http://spovangelist.com/the-spotorialist/feed/ 15 http://spovangelist.com/getting-the-boot/ http://spovangelist.com/getting-the-boot/#comments Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:05:21 +0000 The Spovangelist http://spovangelist.com/?p=793

“You love to travel but you’re no tourist. No guidebooks. No sightseeing buses. No package deals. You know a country’s best-kept secrets cannot be found between the pages of Fodor’s or a slick brochure. You know better than anyone else these places can only be found off the beaten track.”

What do Ashland, Eugene, LaGrange, Libia, Ojai, Park City, Richmond, Portsmouth (which one?), Springfield, St. Paul, Yountville, Provo and Spokane all have in common? Apparently the ability to capture the imagination of an Off the Beaten Path brand shoe designer:

For those who know you can’t see the world from the seat of a bus, the berth of a train, the railings of a boat or the porthole of a plane, OTBT shoes are made for you. Made for walking on the road less taken, we’re the shoe of choice for the restless wayfarer. To all you roamers, rovers and rolling stones who know getting there is half the fun, ramble on.

Constructed with high quality materials, authentic colors and a tough sole designed for maximum durability and functionality, OTBT (Off The Beaten Track) is the ultimate travel shoe. Named after off the beaten track cities, OTBT is a global brand for citizens of the world inspired by music, culture and lifestyle. If you demand unique shoes with original styling and utilitarian functionality, OTBT is the shoe to get you from here to there and everywhere in between.

Presenting the Spokane boot:

But seriously, if our city were a boot, would it not look unlike the above contraption? (Also available in dark brown and smoke?) Think of our city’s semi-sporty, outdoors-savvy, slightly rebellious, military-friendly, rugged, punkish leanings. Love it or leave it, I believe this is the boot for us! It will keep you warm through the winter and looking offhandedly casual in any situation.

How ironic is it, then, that the closest place to get the boot is on Spokane St. over in Walla Walla?

Fitts And Company
53 S. Spokane Street
Walla Walla WA 99362
509 876-1829

We think it would be appropriate if Swank Boutique up north became a retailer. Granted the rest of the OTBP product might not match the concept of the store, but for this special Spokane boot it’s a perfect fit.