- Welcome back to another edition of "Everyday Northwest."

I'm your host, Staci Nelson, and we're excited to be sharing with you three more features from the pages of Art Chowder magazine.

On today's show, we'll visit with a world-renowned ceramics artist, catch a glimpse of the characters at Lilac City ComicCon, and go behind the scenes on the plans for a new regional performing arts center.

We're glad you're here and hope that you enjoy the show.

(upbeat music) (gentle somber music) - Well, I was really fortunate to be able to move to Lake Union.

There was a lot of art students down here and philosophy students down here.

And so, when Bob and I, my husband, Bob and I decided to build a studio, he said, "Pat, where do you wanna build a studio?"

And I said, "Well, let's go down Lake Union 'cause it's my old stomping grounds."

(gentle somber music) I came from Spokane, Washington.

I was born there and went to high school there, grade school and high school.

Then came over to Seattle to go to the University of Washington.

I was gonna be a science major, and mother and father programmed me to go into science so I could eat.

(chuckles) And I had to take an elective out of the program area, so I decided to take drawing, or they put me in a drawing class, and (clears throat) I really enjoyed it.

I had a great time in there.

And so, when I got to the, started taking these beginning classes at the U, they became, I was freaked out, thinking about I had to take a design class, what is design?

And anyway, it turned out to be wonderful.

And then, I happened to get into the ceramics class and the beginning classes, and I used to watch these people inside.

I was doing hand building, and I was watching people inside on the wheel.

And so, at nighttime, we'd kind of sneak in there and I kind of tried to center the clay and I, it mesmerized me.

And ever since I touched that material, I have never left.

There was something about that material that's very tactile and forgiving.

And also, you want to throw it against the wall, and many times you wanna break it on this floor when you get frustrated.

Opening the kiln and having a disaster, you just wanna, but anyway, it's a challenging material.

We were told that we could not just dip our pottery in glaze.

We had to decorate it.

And during that particular time, around the late '50s, it was abstract expressionist time in the painting and sculpture.

So on the West Coast, there was this kind-of innovative thing that was happening down in the Bay Area, which affected the clay media up here in Seattle.

And then, it just kind of spread all over.

I mean, where it became, the clay movement really started opening up to other ideas, visual ideas.

So it no longer was just isolated and in utilitarian work.

And then, I ended up teaching at the University of Washington for, I taught at Cornish for a while, when I first got back, and I taught night school at the U, and then (coughs) the following, I taught 35 years altogether, and finally retired.

Gee, I'm losing track of time, but I taught 35 years.

(laughs) One thing that my inspiration is my daily life and people I meet.

I kind of think of it as a visual diary, and I'm a news junkie (chuckles), and I read two newspapers in the morning, and I watch TV constantly while I'm working and it's always on the news.

I'm also inspired by the surrealists.

Early on, I was doing a lot of, I was trained as an abstract expressionist artist, but I found out that there was this thing called surrealism, and I loved Magritte and I, and he was very tight, the way he approached his work.

And so, I looked at a lot of surrealism when I was a student, or even after I was a student, and I kind of had to teach my, and I noticed that surrealism was, of course, they use a lot of figurative work.

(clears throat) And then there's this pop art movement and there's the funk movement with Bob Arneson and stuff.

And so, that really kind of inspired me to learn about the figure.

And I got into the figure kind of indirectly.

I started very slow, and I would build a finger, or during that pop art period, I did these giant lips and made vessels out of them.

And my work was pretty tight, and away from abstract expressionism.

And with that, it gave me the confidence to kind of explore the figure.

But I knew, eventually, that these figures would start to change and evolve.

And I wanted them to look a little bit more refined, not refined, a little bit more simplified.

And it was this struggle from that time period, where I was learning how the muscles moved into this current time, where I went through a series of different, evolved my figures through these different time periods, and here I am right now, but the figure's not simplified.

So it has taken me a long time to get to, even, to this point.

And so, when I do my work, my inspiration, really, is thinking of the next piece.

Recently, I was awarded the Visionary Award from the Smithsonian, and I was quite surprised when they called me.

And I said, "Well, why didn't such-and-such get it?"

Because there's so many people that I have high regard for.

And I said, "Why didn't they get it?"

And he said, "Because they're not alive."

(laughs) It's true.

I was fortunate enough to show in Spokane, I think on some invitational shows in the past, but the one exhibition, I do recall, was the Jundt Museum at Gonzaga University, where they invited me to have a one-person show there.

So I was very fortunate to be in that beautiful, little space.

So I'm now at the Traver Gallery here in Seattle, and I'm supposed to have a show, probably, in about maybe six months or so.

And things that can be seen, public pieces, I have one at the convention center, and let's see, at the University of Washington, the hospital and also, I think at Meany Hall.

And let's see, and my recent public sculpture was just put out, South Lake Union by Vulcan, and it's a outdoor piece.

It's a large figure.

It's about 14 feet long, and she's on her stomach, (chuckles) and it's called "Dreamer."

And so, that's a new piece that just went in about a month ago.

And then, also, had piece in Portland on the street down there.

It's a bronze piece.

Also, very, very thrilled to have a show at the Marmot Gallery in Spokane, and to revisit Spokane again.

(playful music) - I'm super excited to have you, and gosh, we're so lucky that you chose to come back to Spokane.

- Thank you very much.

I really appreciate that, and I'm not gonna tell you how many years it's been, because I don't like to reveal my age.

(both laughing) - That's at least two of us, and probably everyone in this room, yeah.

- Anyway, I really appreciate this time that I'm having in Spokane, and I'm reliving it, the experience of being here.

And I'm very impressed by all the things that I've seen today on the river front, and all the buildings, the architecture here is fabulous.

I'm not just saying that.

I really mean it.

It's a very impressive city.

(playful music) (upbeat music) (playful music) - When I moved to Spokane in 2006, from the west side of the state, I was really looking forward to finding out what the next big convention was over here, being new to the area.

I reached out to local businesses, and they thought that my question was funny because they said they haven't had a convention here in Spokane in over 16 years.

So I was inspired to bring a slice of comic book and pop culture world to the east side of the state, and start my own show.

(playful music) - Hi, I'm Spencer.

- I'm Christine.

- And we are from Olympia, Washington.

I am basically the Green Knight from Arthurian legend.

- And I'm a mushroom fairy.

(both chuckling) - Our first ever show was in 2007 in a small little wedding hall, at Cataldo Hall at Gonzaga University.

(playful music) - What's up, everybody?

My name is Ricco Fajardo.

I play Mirio Togata in "My Hero Academia," Taiju in "Dr. Stone," Benimaru in "That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime," many, many other anime and video games and things that you're familiar with.

And I'm here at Lilac ComicCon 2022.

First time ever out here in the great state of Washington, and in Spokane, so I'm having a great time.

I hope you guys are too.

Plus ultra.

Go beyond.

- When we first started in 2007, we had 18 vendors and about 300 people in attendance.

Fast forward to 2019, pre-pandemic, we had over 250 exhibitors and over 7,200 attendees.

(playful music) - All right, hello.

My name is Jayden.

I'm working as a Mandalorian as well as my many friends here.

We are Mandalorians.

If you don't know what that is, we are space warriors who worship war and armor.

It's pretty simple, but very complicated.

The first of us is Hannah.

She is role playing as Ran, custom character.

We're all custom characters today.

Wonderful blue armor.

Leather.

She hunts the last one over there, but we'll get to her later.

So she hunts that one.

Remember that for later, there'll be a quiz.

The purple armor today, we have Ren.

Ren is, I still don't know the name of her character.

Probably pretty good.

Foam armor, plastic helmet.

No, foam helmet.

Plastic, plastic, and plastic.

They're all plastic.

Here, we have Spider-Gwen.

Not a Mandalorian, but don't ask me why.

So Spider-Gwen, wonderful.

We love the boots.

Always love the boots.

Now, here we have Elliot.

Elliot's in the blue armor, blue armor.

He's playing Croc, that is who he is role playing today.

We have the foam armor and the plastic helmets with the toggle thing.

I'm toggling it for you.

I didn't ask about that, but that's all right.

Now, here we have Molly.

I'm gonna move behind you, Molly.

All right, Molly.

Here she is role playing the Angel of Mandalore.

I can't remember her first name, but that doesn't matter at the moment.

The Angel of Mandalore is actually the mother to Croc, I forgot to mention that earlier.

And she is the one being hunted by Ran.

Ran is mad because she murdered some family members or something.

I'm not quite sure.

Also, lots of murdering family here.

Very awkward.

Very awkward situation.

Anyway, that's all from us, folks.

(playful music) - We have people that have traveled as far as Ohio, Canada, all not just to exhibit, but also to attend.

So really international.

- Hey, this Booker T. Six-time world champ, two-time Hall of Famer, here at the Lilac City ComicCon, Spokane Convention Center.

Guys, hanging out, having fun, telling some stories.

Wish you was here with the five-time champ.

Now, can you dig that, sucker?

(playful music) - Hello, I'm Kiana, and I'm from Portland.

- I'm Nat.

I'm also from Portland.

- My character, that I'm dressed as, is Cruella de Ville from the latest live action.

- And I'm Ochaco Uraraka from the anime, "My Hero Academia."

- Hey there.

Merrick McMurphy here at Lilac City ComicCon.

Cosplaying as Itachi Uchiha, with Lust from "Fullmetal Alchemist," Hisoka from "Hunter x Hunter," and Winter Soldier from Marvel.

- My understanding that it benefits the hospitality industry.

Here, we partnered with local businesses to, they sell out the hotels when the exhibitors and the attendees come to town.

The restaurants are full, and we, and it's been a great partnership.

- I am Haley, and this is my character, Phoenix, and I am dressed up as Jinx from "Arcane."

(playful music) - We also run a sister show over in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, called Lake City ComicCon, that will be celebrating its fifth annual event this October 8th.

(playful music) - I am Stolas from the series, "Helluva Boss."

And this is Amanda Young, or Pig, from the "SAW" series.

- My character is my rabbit, Dumpling.

He died recently, so I made him a little suit.

- The granddaddy of comic cons is from San Diego, and in 2019, they celebrated their 50th anniversary.

And they started off as a small little convention, kind of similar to ours, inside a hotel ballroom.

And they've since grown to be the largest convention in the nation, to where they have, they take over an entire facility and have over 150,000 people in attendance.

So we're moderately small by comparison.

But again, like I said, our goal is to bring a slice of that experience to here, to Spokane.

(playful music) (upbeat music) (gentle music) - I'm Dr. Marnie Rorholm, and I am the Managing Director of Spokane Valley Summer Theater, soon to be the Spokane Valley Performing Arts Center, In 2016, the Executive Artistic Director, Yvonne A.K Johnson, was working in New York City.

And she was managing the acting careers of some high-profile young people that came from the Spokane region, but were now in New York City.

And she came home and formed the company, and I joined at that time as a volunteer.

So after the most successful season in 2019, an angel donor, who had season tickets and loves our productions, came to us and said, "If I bought the land, would you consider building a year-round performing arts center?"

So sure enough, they started, we all started putting that plan in motion.

That's when she asked me to join the company full-time.

2021, we were able to provide a modified season.

We started with outdoor theater, and the governor, on June 30th, said, "Indoor gatherings are allowed again."

And in three weeks, we pivoted and moved our production of "Little House on the Prairie" back indoors, back into the high school.

And we were, we performed only eight performances, and we can't believe it, but it was the best-selling show in our company's history.

And as we were making the argument for the Spokane Valley Performing Arts Center to the community, Americans for the Arts has this sort of famous statistic that says, "For every dollar spent on professional performing arts, $32 goes back into the economy."

We were like, "Gosh, well, "Little House on the Prairie," in eight days, sold $75,000 worth of tickets.

And over a hundred thousand dollars, when you add in season tickets."

And if that statistic applies, that means we put 2.5 to 3.3 million dollars back into the economy, in a high school auditorium, in a market where everyone goes to the lake, and during a pandemic.

And so, it's so very clear that there is a demand for this type of product in this region.

- Hi, my name is Dan Griffith, and I've been with SVST for a long time.

Basically, I've been with Yvonne for 16, going on 17 years, starting at Civic Theater.

So it's been a long relationship.

I am currently in the rehearsing for the next upcoming play at SVST, which is "Bridges of Madison County."

My character is Charlie.

I'm the next door neighbor to Francesca.

And it's just an exciting thing to be a part of.

- My name is Andrea Olsen, and I play Francesca in the "Bridges of Madison County."

And I have been with Spokane Valley Summer Theater since its inception.

And I've worked either on the stage or behind the scenes, either directing or helping with choreography, helping with music for every show, every season, since it's inception.

So I'm delighted to be on the stage for this show, and then also be helping out with some choreography in "Sister Act" as well.

♪ This is Chicago ♪ This is Osceola station ♪ Where a truck will take them ♪ Deeper into Iowa ♪ To build myself ♪ A home - I'm Collin Pittmann, and I am Spokane Valley's Summer Theater's full-time Production Manager.

And so, I get to kind of help oversee and manage all aspects of production from set item and prop procurement to sending out after contract.

I always describe my kind of job position as, if you don't know what department is gonna take care of it, it's me.

And so, it's been a really great opportunity for me, knowing that I want to go into a career as a director and theater administrator full-time.

And so, this has been a wonderful launchpad for me.

- Hi, my name's Darnelle Preston.

I have worked with Spokane Valley Summer Theater since its inception in 2016, and have been in productions since the beginning of the inception of the program.

In this show, I am playing the character of Marge, who is Francesca's neighbor.

This is in "Bridges of Madison County."

And a neighbor who wishes to know more than she should.

And she's somewhat nosy, but all with the right intentions in mind.

♪ Dad where are the keys ♪ I'm gonna drive ♪ Last year ♪ I do not think so Michael.

♪ I could drive and I'm 16 ♪ Right now I am talking to your mother ♪ ♪ Come on I drive better than you.

♪ ♪ Michael get the lunch ♪ I tell you now ♪ What did I say go get the lunch ♪ ♪ I'm not squeezing in the middle ♪ ♪ I've got to move it out right now ♪ ♪ I don't have time to ♪ How about I just drive it last mile ♪ ♪ We get a worse spot in the stall ♪ ♪ For every minute that we're late ♪ ♪ So we can come in that ♪ And I can see by how you're looking ♪ ♪ That you think it's really great ♪ ♪ That we'll be home ♪ Before you know it ♪ I can't believe this ♪ We'll be home ♪ And then I won't do this again ♪ ♪ Yeah sure you're laughing at me now ♪ ♪ 'Cause I got two kids and a cow ♪ ♪ I gotta show ♪ He's a steer ♪ We've gotta go ♪ And we'll be home - So the Spokane Valley Performing Art Center is going to be, I tell people, "Don't think of it even as a theater or a performing art center.

Think of it as another opera house, the opera house of the valley."

Although, it's very different.

It's a, there are three main sections to the building.

There's main stage auditorium with 450 to 500 seats.

There's going to be a studio black box theater with 200 seats, but they're moveable.

So it can be theater in the round.

It can be theater with an aisle, very traditional.

They can come out all the way.

One of the wonderful aspects of our company is that we have a conservatory, which is theater education for students in grades 2-12.

We're one of the only companies in the region to have that.

And then, the third part of the building is we put in something in the main stage called a fly system, that allows you to fly.

It's a full-fly system.

You can fly actors, you can fly set pieces, but you have to build up to a third level to do that.

We were like, "Well, as long as we're building up to a third level, why don't we just enclose the entire thing and make it into an event space."

Couple of extra bells and whistles.

We will have five practice rooms, which can be rented by voice teachers or music teachers to give lessons.

One of those is actually gonna be a recording studio.

It's not a full recording studio for making an album, but if students need to record, or anybody needs to record an audition or a vocal audition, maybe for a college application or something of that nature, we'll have that available.

And any of those places are rentable to the community as long as, logistically, it works out.

And so, really, this is going to be a arts and culture gem, and a show place for the region.

So, and 300 free parking spaces, I should say that.

That's one, people love that.

300 and they will always remain free.

(chuckles) (dramatic music) (upbeat music) (drumming) (audience clapping) (audience cheering) (audience cheering) (audience cheering) (audience cheering) (audience clapping and cheering) (audience clapping and cheering) (audience clapping and cheering) (audience clapping and cheering) - And that's our show for today.

Thanks again for joining us as we continue to explore the sights, sounds, beats, treats, and flavors of "Everyday Northwest."

- [Announcer] Learn more about the sites, sounds, beats and treats of life in the Pacific Northwest through Art Chowder magazine.

Subscriptions and more information are available at www.artchowder.com.

Funding for "Everyday Northwest" provided in part by BECU.

People helping people, www.becu.org.

Also, Historic Flight Foundation at Felts Field in Spokane.

Experience history in motion, www.historicflight.org.

And Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, the MAC, www.northwestmuseum.org.

And also, the Art Spirit Gallery in downtown Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, celebrating 25 years of quality, imaginative, and inspiring art.

theartspiritgallery.com.

(upbeat music)