Facebook Photo Booth Pictures!

Did you attend the 2009 Great Spokane Art Party? Did you drop by the Hamilton Studio Facebook Photo Booth and pose for a new Facebook profile pic?

Well, the fabulous folks at Hamilton Studio have posted the evening's run of pictures in an easy-to-navigate gallery, right here. Just locate your pictures, and use the right-click option to download and save them to your computer for use in your Facebook profile or wherever you like. At the bottom of each gallery page there is also an email link to contact Hamilton Studio in case you'd like to request a high-res, printable copy of any of your pictures--which they have generously offered to provide on request.

Before you click on over to the gallery, however, please click on the comments link below and let us know how you liked the Great Spokane Art Party.

The Great Spokane Art Party Artist and Activity List 2009 -- Update!

1. Olivia Waterman -- Silk Fabric Art -- Fabric ink applied directly on silk fabric using basic & simple techniques with beautiful results.

2. Amy Wharf -- Vessels & Vases -- Amy will show how to make a variety of functional and decorative pots starting with flat slabs of clay

3. Ken Spiering -- Dynamic, Lush, & Intense -- You thought this was about wine? Water Color painting - demonstration & participation

4. Clay Connection -- Fused Glass Pendants -- Cutting glass and designing your own pendant. Finished jewelry can be picked up at the Clay Connection 714 E Sprague beginning May 1st.

5. Eva Silverstone -- Collage Magnets -- Collage is the combination of many materials to make something new. It is a unique medium because you can “borrow” others’ ideas and designs and with a little reworking make something unique and different from the materials that you started with. Learn about this technique and make a small collaged magnet.

6. Inland Northwest Drawing School -- Designer Gourds -- Explore your creativity by transforming a common gourd into a work of art. Be inspired by a variety of designs & patterns derived from different cultures.

7. Lance Sinema --Clay Menagerie -- Making small animal forms out of clay, both in small scale relief & three-dimensional form to be returned to the school for inclusion in one of the projects with the children.

8. Sondra Barrington and Rings & Things -- “Found” Objects Jewelry -- Using a variety of found objects, fibers, polymer clay & beads; we will create unique wearable art. Metal disc-loop bracelets will be embellished with textures, baubles, charms and dangles. Collage-inspired ephemera is transformed into a visually stunning bracelet!

9. Scott Kolbo -- Polyester Plate Lithography -- Make printing plates by hand by drawing whatever you like and Scott will help you print it.

10. Conrad Bagley -- Recycled Stuff Loom Weaving -- Using a hand made and designed free standing loom, we will take strips of old clothes, ribbons, yarn, small stuffed animals anything weavable to create this collective piece of art.

11. Hamilton Studio -- Facebook Photo Booth -- A photo set, costume props, being creative with ourselves as the subject--fun! Photo to keep by email.

12. Gloria Fox -- Japanese bookbinding -- Japanese bookbinding is a creative, versatile process for personalizing anything you would like in book form. It's fun and easy, limited only by your imagination.

14. Heidi Arbogast -- Visual Thinking Strategies -- Join Heidi in the Saranac Art Project gallery for a tour & conversation about the art on display.

15. Teya Kuhle -- Mixed Media Papermaking -- Make your own paper incorporating materials from nature.

16. Peter & Kit Jagoda -- Milagros: a metal tooling relief activity -- The delicate craft of milargro (mee LAH gro) making is a folk art tradition that has played an important role in many cultures. A milagro is a little metal pendant that symbolizes a request , a prayer, or a wish.

The Great Spokane Art Party

Featured Art Party Artist: Ken Spiering

From the 2008 City of Spokane Arts Awards:

Specializing in artwork for public spaces, Ken Spiering's work can be seen from North Pole, Alaska to North Miami Beach, Florida. But he has made his most indelible mark on the Spokane region with a wealth of public art that demonstrates his extraordinary talent and versatility. Works as varied as the beloved larger-than-life red wagon, Childhood Express … Cataract, at the STA Plaza… and the exquisite wood carving entitled Passage: Immediate & Eternal in City Hall… all add immeasurably to our daily quality of life. And not all of his work is stationary – some of it can be seen running around town, as Ken has designed numerous Bloomsday T-shirts and posters.

Ken's latest and largest public work, commissioned by the Spokane Public Facilities District, is a 700-foot span of wall on the newly expanded Spokane Convention Center. Appropriately named "Current Event", the artwork is inspired by the boat-like shape of the building as well as the surrounding flow of traffic and the motion of the river, and features four giant fish that shimmer along the length of the wall. Located at a major intersection leading into Spokane's downtown, "Current Event" is one of our city's most visible and prominent pieces of art.

Mentorship is as important to Ken as is his art. By teaching at local colleges, Ken stays connected with young artists and continues to mentor and encourage many of his students long after graduation.

2007 Art Party Pictures

The Great Spokane Art Party 2009 Flyer

a bargain when you think about it

If you're balking at the price of admission ($50 or $80 per couple) to the Great Spokane Art Party, consider not only that you'll be supporting a great cause (childcare workers provide a critically important service and they are, typically, horribly underpaid); but also consider that for this small chunk of change you'll get an evening of hobnobbing with some of the great artists in the region, getting messy and having fun playing with all sorts of media, while fueling your creative fires with fine wine and an array of gourmet hors d'oeuvres.

Eating, Drinking & Getting Artsy-Fartsy for a Good Cause

I'm sending this message to a bunch of people I suspect might either (a) like to spend an evening drinking wine, eating hors d'oeuvres, and making art; or (b) be willing to support the work of a great childcare organization in Spokane; or (c) both. (check one)

The Great Spokane Art Party is a fundraiser that supports the childcare center where our two girls go -- as well as Blue Prints for Learning, the non-profit organization of which the center is a part. Blue Prints provides training to improve the quality of childcare throughout the Spokane area.

The Art Party is a fantastic event, aside from the great cause it supports, especially if you enjoy any of the three featured activities: eating, drinking, being artsy-fartsy. It's a lot of fun! Ashley and I are selling tickets ($50 apiece; $80 for couples) so let us know if you'd like to attend.

And, whether you'll be able to attend or not, please consider becoming a sponsor of the event and a supporter of excellent childcare in Spokane.

Thanks,
Jonathan Potter
509-413-7603

Become a Sponsor!

Blue Prints for Learning is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization working to build the quality of childcare in our community. We offer two programs: a superb childcare program -- the Community Building Children's Center -- and the Child Care Training Institute. The Training Institute's programs are focused on improving the quality of care provided throughout Spokane by increasing the skills and knowledge of providers. The Children’s Center serves as a lab school for the Training Institute.

Recent research shows that the blueprint for life-long success is drawn before a child even enters kindergarten.

It only makes sense that investments in early childhood education, should be a priority for our community.

Unfortunately, the financial reality is that quality childcare is not a viable business. The true cost of care is much higher than what parents can afford. The Community Building Children's Center reflects the economic reality of child care -- without additional funding beyond our core budget, we would not be able fulfill our mission in the community.

To continue our investment in the future of our children, we are hosting

The 3rd annual
GREAT SPOKANE ART PARTY
Saturday, April 25 from 7-10 pm at the Community Building.

We have teamed up with local artists to provide an evening of wine, hors d'oeuvres and hands-on art exploration.

We welcome your financial support. Listed below are the sponsorship levels for The Great Spokane Art Party. A member of our event committee will contact you in the next few days, but if you can’t wait to become a sponsor, please call our sponsorship chairperson Heather Beebe-Stevens at (509) 464-7602.

Patron - $2,000-Recognition as Patron Sponsor in event program and on agency website-Full page ad in event program-PA recognition at event-Banner display at event

Master Sponsor - $1,000-Recognition as Master Sponsor in event program and on agency website-Half page ad in event program-PA recognition at event-Banner display at event

Apprentice Sponsor - $500-Recognition as Apprentice Sponsor in event program and on agency website-1/4 page ad in event program-PA recognition at event

Small Business Sponsor - $250-Recognition as Small Business Sponsor in event program and on agency website-PA recognition at event

Starving Artist Sponsor - $100-Recognition as Starving Artist Sponsor in event program and on agency website

About The Great Spokane Art Party

Beginning in 2007, Blue Prints for Learning has teamed up with local artists to provide an evening of art experience for adults, featuring wine, hors d'oevres, and hands on art exploration. This event is a critical fundraiser as well as a celebration of the Community Building Children's Center Art Studio.

Blue Prints for Learning invites your participation in our ongoing work to directly help our youngest children--infants, toddlers and preschoolers--develop the foundational skills, attitudes and values to become successful in school and life.

Blue Prints for Learning is a nonprofit (501-C3) organization working to increase the quality of child care in our community. Blue Prints for Learning offers two programs: a high quality child care program (Community Building Children's Center) and the Child Care Training Institute. The Training Institute's programs are focused on improving the quality of care provided at local child care centers through increasing the skills and knowledge of the providers throughout the Spokane area. The Training Institute offers coarses as an approved State Training and Registry System (S.T.A.R.S) agency and teaches the nationaly recognized Child Development Associate (CDA) credential program. Our innovative year-long CDA program has been offered for eight years and access to this course is highly prized by center directors, because it such high quality training and directors can see immediate positive gains in their staff taking the class. The Children's Center operates as a working model for our Training Institute much like a lab school functions on a college campus.

The "quality" in "quality child care" is the teachers who work with children and families. Even those with advanced degrees in Early Childhood Education are paid one third the salary of their couterparts in public education. Yet recent research indicates that the foundation of a person's success in life is formed within the blueprint of the first five years. It only makes sense that investments in early childhood education, training, staff development and best practice should be a priority for our community.

The financial reality of the true cost of quality child care is that it is not a viable business. The cost of caring for children is much higher than what parents in our region can afford. The Community Building Children's Center reflects the economic reality of child care, the implications of nonprofit status for the industry, and the kind of effort needed to secure addtional funding through grants, donations and fund raising efforts. Without additional funding beyond our core budget, we would not have the opportunities we need to fulfill our vision and mission in the community.

Our mission is to support young children, their families, and the staff who care for them in child care settings through the development of environments that foster friendship, curiosity, self esteem, joy and respect; where everyone's talents are fully challenged and recognized.