Arts World Bronzes Gellhorn

They bronzed Katherine Gellhorn last week.

Permit me to explain. A bronze bust of arts dynamo Katherine Gellhorn was unveiled during a huge surprise party at the Davenport Hotel last Sunday. The statue will be on perennial display in the Interplayers Ensemble lobby.

The whole thing began a year or two ago when Interplayers, Spokane’s professional theater, announced an annual award called “The Katherine Award,” named after the theater’s most tireless volunteer ever. Bob and Joan Welch of Interplayers spoke with local sculptor Dorothy Fowler about making a series of small bronze statuettes of Gellhorn.

Gellhorn did a sitting for Fowler, but for various reasons the statuettes never came to pass. Fowler, however, hung on to her design and sculpted a full-sized bust as a tribute to Gellhorn. The organizations that Gellhorn has helped over the years heard about this bronze. They decided to get together and purchase the base and a plaque, and to present it to her in a surprise ceremony. Fowler donated the sculpture.

To get Gellhorn to the surprise party, friends told her that it was a reception for Uptown Opera. When she walked into the Davenport, more than 230 people were waiting for her. She was taken completely by surprise.

“It was the best kept secret in Spokane,” said one of the organizers. “I can’t believe we pulled it off.”

It was a joint tribute from 16 of the organizations that Gellhorn has served. A listing of them goes a long way toward explaining how extensive, and diverse, her volunteer efforts have been: Allegro, American Cancer Society, Ballet Arts Academy, Connoisseur Concerts, Friends of the Davenport, Gonzaga University, Interplayers Ensemble, KPBX Public Radio, Spokane Civic Theatre, Spokane String Quartet, Spokane Symphony Associates, Opera Buffs, Spokane Symphony Orchestra and Chorale, Unitarian Universalist Church, Uptown Opera and the YWCA.

Hey! It was fiction!

That romance novel series we ran last week in the IN Life section had a few readers confused about the border between fiction and real life.

About six people called KHQ-6 to ask when the “dream date” segment was going to run on the news.

At least two of those callers were irate when they were told it was all made up. They wanted to see Leah and James.

Nameck’s the man

In case you didn’t see this in the sports pages, KXLY-4’s Bud Nameck was named the Washington State Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association.

This is a well-deserved honor; Nameck is a class act on the Spokane sports scene.

Tom O’Day in L.A.

Spokane artist Tom O’Day is causing a stir in the L.A. area with his solo exhibition featuring art that has been blown up, buried or drowned.

“Next Stop: An Art Disposal Multi-Media Installation” is now on exhibit at California State University, Northridge.

The Los Angeles Daily News called O’Day’s exhibit “inventive recycling.” It consists of artwork that has been, for instance, strafed and bombed from a plane. O’Day then converts it back into art.

“I want to see how far I can break it down and still be art,” he told the Daily News.

He even took out an ad in a national art magazine offering to help artists dispose of their art. He told the Daily News that the art disposal business isn’t exactly lucrative, but it does help pay for a few celebratory cans of beer.

O’Day teaches at the Spokane Art School and Spokane Falls Community College, and is a graduate of Cal State Northridge.

Bad ‘75 music

After my column exploring the thesis “Was 1975 the worst music year ever, or what?,” Bruce Moline of Spokane wrote to say that 1975 also had one of the most confusing songs of all time.

It was David Bowie’s “Young Americans,” and Moline took the time to try to capture its incoherent lyrics on paper.

Sample verse: “You ain’t a burper, you ain’t a hustler, a man’s gotta carry it and we’ve got a Chrysler, Rick’s got a special, Wade’s got a soul train, mama’s got cramps and look at your handshake.”

At least, that’s what it sounds like. Next week, I’ll print the real words, although, frankly, they don’t make a heck of a lot more sense.

This started me wondering: Does anybody remember any other songs which make absolutely no sense? Give my Voice Mail a call and nominate your favorite. The number is 459-5493.

New faces

Some new faces have appeared on TV news recently.

Neil Gordon is now the morning and noon co-anchor on KREM-2 and is also doing weathercasting duties. He comes to Spokane from Augusta, Ga.

Don Strickland is doing weekend anchor and weekday reporter duties at KXLY-4. He comes to Spokane from Sacramento.

Jennifer Jolly is now a reporter and anchor for KXLY-4’s Coeur d’Alene bureau. She was previously at Missoula’s KECI-TV.