In brief: New fleet center to get animal artwork

Steel and enamel animals will soon parade in front of the Spokane Central Service Center, part of the state’s requirement to reserve a portion of a public works project’s budget for public art.

Allen and Mary Dee Dodge, who were chosen from about 60 artists who submitted proposals for the project, will create the parade for $95,750, about 1 percent of the cost to build the city’s new fleet center in the Chief Garry neighborhood. Each of the seven steel animals will be about 8-feet tall and covered in fired enamel, which resists defacing better than other materials.

“It’s not so much about commemorating the facility as it is place-making for people in the neighborhood,” said Karen Mobley, who presented the art plan to the city’s Public Works committee last month.

Walter is Whitworth’s writer-in-residence

Noted Spokane author Jess Walter has been named Spring 2015 writer-in-residence at Whitworth University in honor of the school’s 125th anniversary.

Walter’s books have garnered a slew of honors, from the New York Times Bestseller list to National Book Awards finalists.

On Tuesday he’ll give a free lecture and presentation, “In the Writer’s Studio with Jess Walter,” in the Weyerhaeuser Hall Robinson Teaching Theater on the Whitworth campus. The event takes place at 7 p.m., followed by a reception and book signing.

Then on March 31, Walter will give a reading of his works in the Music Recital Hall, also at 7 p.m.

For more information visit www.whitworth.edu

Food choices, values topic of talk at GU

The relationship between food choices and personal values is the subject of a talk on Tuesday by Ellen Maccarone, associate professor of philosophy at Gonzaga University.

The talk, titled “What we value, what we eat,” will be held in the Herak Club Room of the McCarthey Athletic Center. Refreshments are served at 10 a.m., with the lecture followed by a question-and-answer session from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Maccarone will talk about issues attached to diet and the ways our personal values are reflected in what we eat, intentionally or unintentionally.

‘Combating racism’ lecture at EWU

Tim Wise, an essayist and educator, will give a lecture on “Combating racism: from Ferguson to the voting booth to the border,” on the Eastern Washington University campus Tuesday.

Wise wrote “White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son,” as well as other books addressing race and culture. He speaks nationwide on high school and college campuses, as well as at professional and academic conferences.

His talk at EWU is free and open to the public. It will be from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Showalter Auditorium on the Cheney campus.