etc. - Sept. 23, 2010

Colfax Arts Council will launch 4th banner contest

Colfax Arts Council officially launched their fourth banner painting contest last week. Artists of all skill levels are encouraged to enter the event which will result in a new set of “H’Art of the Palouse” banners along Main Street in Colfax early next year. The Arts Council calls their project the most widely viewed art exhibit in the region.

Deadline for entry sketches is Nov. 4. Artists are asked to submit their designs on 11 X 17 paper, a format which transfers onto the dimensions of the banner.

Theme again this year is “The Palouse Country” and can include anything from historical figures to flora and fauna to abstract depiction’s of Palouse life.

Entries can be submitted at the Library, Port of Whitman office or Arts Council at 911 S. East Street. Entry fees are $20 for adults and $10 for junior artists up to age 18. The fees are used to help pay for the banners.

Winners will be notified Nov. 11, and a workshop will be Saturday, Nov. 13, to instruct artists on the paint selection and techniques for producing the banners. The banners will be distributed at the workshop.

Completed banners will be due Jan. 14 and they will be hung in downtown Colfax Feb. 20. A reception for the artists will be March 3 at the library and the winner of the annual “People’s Choice” balloting will be announced.

Book signing, dinner slated for Left Bank

A candlelight dinner will be held on the second floor of the Bank Left Gallery Sept. 25. For the bistro’s annual dinner and concert, guests will dine in the light of the gallery’s sky light from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Dinner and concert is $35 per person, by reservation only.

A book signing for Reflections on the Road will be from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Local author Martha Mullen’s book is an account of her quest to drive every road in Whitman County. Mullen will be signing her books for visitors in the gallery.

Weagraff to perform at FFA national meet

Ben Weagraff, Garfield- Palouse FFA member, has been selected to perform at the 83rd national FFA convention, Oct. 20-23 in Indianapolis. He submitted an application along with a recording.

Over 50 acts were chosen from across the country to perform at the convention. They will perform during sessions, meals and receptions at the Indiana Convention Center, Conseco Fieldhouse and Lucas Oil Stadium.

Watercolor artists to show at Dahmen

Palouse Watercolor Socius will exhibit their annual members show and sale in October at Dahmen Barn in Uniontown from Oct. 1 - 31 with an opening reception Sunday, Oct. 3, from 1 to 4.

Founded in 1974, PWS has grown to more than 50 members and exhibits as a group locally. Individual members show their work all over the west and often are accepted into juried shows.

Clubs & Youth Groups

Garfield/Palouse FFA

Twenty-five Garfield- Palouse FFA chapter members entered exhibits at the Palouse Empire Fair. Nathan Cocking received reserve in FFA fitting and showing for his hog; Emma Akin received reserve for fitting and showing for her lamb; Kelsey Beilenberg, FFA breeding ewe champion; Hannah Neibergs, reserve FFA breeding heifer; Courtney Fleener reserve horse showman and games champion; Ariel Hoffman Peoples’ Choice Award, Best of Show, Grand Champion, and Herdsmanship for poultry. The Garfield-Palouse FFA sheep exhibitors also won the herdsmanship award for the third year in a row.

Gar-Pal FFA livestock judging team received first place. The team included Madisyn Woltering, Hannah Neibergs, J.B. Lange, Chad Redman and Kristin Nelson. Madisyn Woltering also placed first high overall individual, and Hannah Neibergs was second. The agronomy team also received first place. Missy Johnson won first place individual, and J.B. Lange, Derrick Bosch and Chad Redman had a three-way tie for second high individual.

—Kristin Nelson, reporter

Rosalia Garden Club

Rosalia Garden Club will meet Sept. 29 at 1 p.m. at the home of MarvaLee Peterschick.

Rose Jacobus, a WSU Master Gardener from Spokane County & Clark County who specializes in Dwarf Conifers, will be the guest speaker.

Club members will welcome three new members, Nancy Francis, Roseanna Hester and Fran Maxwell. For further information about Rosalia Garden Club, contact the club President Kathy Hilliard.

Births

Caudle girl born

A daughter, Victoria Grace, was born Sept. 21, 2010, at Whitman Hospital and Medical Center in Colfax, to Arcelia and Jade Caudle. Weighing six pounds, one ounce at birth, the baby joins siblings, Michelle and Damon.

On Campus

ART

WSU will present a world-class exhibition, “Contemporary Australian Aboriginal Art: From the Collection of Margaret Levi and Robert Kaplan,” Oct. 1 – Dec. 11. An opening reception will be at 6 p.m. and a lecture presented by the Kaplans at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 30, in the Fine Arts Auditorium. Susan Kennedy Zeller, associate curator at Brooklyn Museum. will present a walk through’ at noon Oct. 5 in the Museum of Art/WSU Gallery. At 5 p.m. in the Fine Arts Auditorium she will present a lecture.

The Levi-Kaplan Collection was built over many years of extensive travel and study. The collectors have sought out the best work by Aboriginal artists to reveal the diversity, creativity and aesthetic power of one of the most exciting art movements in the world today.

Gallery hours are Monday – Saturday, 10 to 4 p.m.(open until 7 Thursdays) .

MUSIC

WSU’s School of Music second performance of the faculty artists series Oct. 1 at 8 p.m. in Bryan Hall Theatre will feature soprano Julie Anne Wieck and pianist Gerald Berthiaume. They will perform some of the most well-known music from the operatic repertoire, including arias from “La Boheme,” “Carmen‚” “The Barber of Seville” and “Die Fledermaus.”

Admission tickets are $10, $5 for seniors and non WSU students, and free for WSU students with identification. Tickets are available in the lobby one hour before concert time.

All proceeds benefit the School of Music scholarship fund.

EXHIBITS

“Nature Twice,” a special exhibit of poetry about animals and nature, will be in WSU’s Conner Museum of Natural History Sept. 9-Nov. 21 on the WSU campus. Free and open to the public 8 to 5 p.m. daily in Abelson.

OTHER

World-renowned mushroom photographer Taylor Lockwood will present “Mushrooms of America” Oct. 7 at 7:30 p.m. in the WSU Center for Undergraduate Education, Room. 518. The digital, multimedia show includes images and stories from the photographer’s mushroom hunting adventures in North and South America. Lockwood’s visit is sponsored by the Department of Plant Pathology and the Palouse Mycological Association. Free admission.

Bookmark

Whitman County Library invites the community to view its newly updated website:

http://www.whitco.lib.wa.us.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provided funding for the site improvements, which were viewed by nearly 40 business and community leaders at Tuesday’s Colfax Chamber of Commerce meeting. Changes to the site allow for easier access to the job assistance, career resources and individualized training being offered by the library. The 2009-2010 Colfax Bulldog Football team is one of the featured photos on the updated site.

Downloadable audio choices are expanding at the library. More than 2,400 titles have been added to the library’s catalog from Overdrive and approximately that same number are available from the NetLibrary link. Visit the library’s website for access to either.

Readers in grades 4-12 are encouraged to participate in Letters About Literature annual contest. To learn more or to print an entry form visit the Washington State Library’s website:

http://www.sos.wa.gov/library/lal/.

Play and Learn sessions resume each Friday from 10-11:30. Preschool children and those who care for them are encouraged to attend with the focus being on learning and socializing in a less structured format. For questions about these or other children’s programs, contact Sheri or Nichole.

September is library card sign-up month where anyone registering for a new library card will be entered into a grand prize drawing for $25 gift certificates.

The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss is the featured title of Everybody Reads 2010, with the author set to appear in the Colfax and St. John Libraries Nov. 12. Contact the library to request your copy today.