If Weather Outside Is Frightful, Try Something More Delightful

Yeah, it’s cold out. But that shouldn’t keep you locked up inside. Be adventurous! Embrace winter! Wear a hat!

Here’s a quick run-down of some of the activities that will keep you busy, entertained and maybe distracted from the sub-zero temps.

Bid ‘em up

The Gonzaga Public Interest Law Project, a student organization of the GU School of Law, is holding a charity auction and cocktail party tonight at 7 at the Masonic Temple Ballroom.

The event begins with a silent auction; the live auction starts at 8 p.m. Items for bid include a golf package, hockey tickets, an aerial sightseeing tour of Spokane or Coeur d’Alene, and more.

Tickets are $8 for students and $10 for the rest of you. Beer, wine and light hors d’oeuvres are included. Tickets are available at the door.

The organization’s mission is to raise money for law students to work in public service internships. Call 328-4200, ext. 3700, for more information.

Feast your eyes

Spokane’s many art galleries open their doors for free today for The Spokane Visual Arts Tour from 5 to 9 p.m. The tour is a self-guided tour produced by a cooperative program of the participating galleries and coordinated by the City of Spokane Arts Department.

Twenty-one locations will exhibit a wide variety of work by local, regional and national artists. Spokane Transit offers bus transportation to selected galleries for $1. Call 456-7277 for more information on bus tickets.

You can visit as many of the galleries as you wish, or just one if that’s your preference. The galleries include everything from the Cheney Cowles Museum to Pottery Place Plus to Romeo’s Cafe. For a complete list, call the Spokane Arts Commission at 625-6050.

Many of the galleries are holding receptions to honor the artists, including GU’s Jundt Art Museum where a reception will run from 5 to 9 p.m. for viewing of “Contemporary Central and Eastern European Prints.”

Rally ‘round

A group of concerned Eastern Washington University students are holding a traditional Gathering for Peltier, a rally to show support for American Indian Leonard Peltier who has been jailed for 20 years after a shootout at Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

The group will meet at Eastern’s PUB in Cheney from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Everyone is welcome; refreshments will be provided.

Another opportunity to rally for a cause will be on Schweitzer on Saturday for Jimmie Heuga’s Ski Express, a fund-raiser for multiple sclerosis research.

Maria Maricich, a former U.S. Ski Team member and downhill World Cup Champion will be there to ski with the hundreds of participants who will schush their way through the day-long challenge. The Schweitzer event is one of more than 30 scheduled for this ski season.

For information about joining the Ski Express, call (714) 249-1985.

Plan ahead

There are plenty of events planned through next week. Here’s a sample:

Catch “Viennese Classics,” featuring the Haffner Trio of Vienna, Austria, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Seeley G. Mudd Chapel at Whitworth. Tickets, at $8, can be purchased at the door or in advance by calling 466-3280.

“Failing Nation States: What U.S. Response?” is the lecture that will kick off the 39th annual Great Decisions lecture series at Whitworth on Thursday.

The lecture features John Yoder, Whitworth professor of history and political studies. It will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Room 1 of Whitworth’s Lindaman Center.

San Francisco artist Enrique Chagoya will give three presentations in the Spokane area on Thursday and Friday of next week as the first artist to speak during EWU’s Visiting Artist Lecture Series.

He will speak about his work at 11:30 a.m. Thursday in Lounges A and B at the Student Union Building at Spokane Falls, at noon next Friday at the EWU Art Building auditorium in Cheney and at 7:30 p.m. next Friday at the Cheney Cowles Museum.

Chagoya uses ironic language in his larger-than-life drawings, using imagery from comic books, ancient meso-American codexes and popular culture to create what the Los Angeles Times has called “bitingly beautiful statements about contemporary times.”

His presentations are free and open to the public.

Music, music, music

The North Idaho College Jazz Ensemble, with special guests Gary Gemberling, Nat Wickham and Daniel Bukvich, will perform a free concert titled “Jazz NIC, A Celebration of Jazz,” at 7:30 tonight at the NIC Boswell Hall Schuler Auditorium.

The concert is sponsored by the Associated Students of NIC.

WSU’s University Theater opens its spring semester performance series with Serge Prokofieff’s “Peter and the Wolf” this weekend on the Pullman campus.

Performances are at 8 tonight, 11 a.m. and 2 and 4 p.m. Saturday. Tonight’s production will be narrated in original Russian. The concerts will be held at Daggy Hall’s Wadleigh Little Theatre. All tickets are $2.50 and available at the door.

The Spokane Youth Symphony will perform at 4 p.m. Sunday at Spokane Falls Community College’s music auditorium. The program includes selections by the Youth Symphony String Quartet, the Woodwind Quartet and the percussion ensemble. (624-6258 for information.)

, DataTimes