Mary Beth Donelan

Applications are being accepted for five vacancies on the Spokane Arts Commission. The 16-member advisory board meets the fourth Tuesday of each month at 4:30 p.m. Members must be Spokane city residents. Of particular interest to the selection committee are people with visual arts experience; marketing and public relations professionals; and representatives from the business community. Applications may be obtained at the mayor's office on the fifth floor of Spokane City Hall or in the Arts Office in Suite 610, and online at www.spokanecity.org.

Worldwide Day to Play is being celebrated on Saturday by Nickelodeon. The station plans to go dark from noon to 3 p.m. With childhood obesity reaching epidemic status, it's important to encourage kids to turn off the TV and get exercise, if only for an afternoon. Teaching your child about diversity can start at an early age. Parents should acknowledge that everyone is different, that everything has value. They should lead by example and home is where children should first learn tolerance. Raising children in an environment that accepts individual differences will allow parents to discuss the ways people are different. Remember that those differences may include age, gender, skin color or even weight, as well as ethnicity. Children learn by example, demonstrate your tolerance with your words and actions. Talk to your child about tolerance and expose them to diversity by reading books about other cultures. Attend multicultural events in your community, such as Unity in the Community, held in Spokane each summer, and sing songs from other cultures. Talk about your family's heritage, where your ancestors lived before coming to this country, and which customs your family still celebrates. Answer your child's questions about differences honestly, using simple, nonjudgmental language, and remind you child that we're all different and that it is those differences that make each of us special.

The Spokane Arts Commission is calling for nominations for the 2004 City of Spokane Arts Awards. The 13th annual awards will be presented in six categories: Individual Artist, Arts Organization, Arts in Education, Individual Benefactor, Business Benefactor, and Arts Community Leadership. Nomination forms are available at Spokane City Hal, 808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd., in the Chase Gallery on the lower level or in the Arts Commission office in Suite 610, or online at www.spokanearts.org/awards. Submission deadline is Oct. 15.

Want to learn to play piano? Openings are still available for a free workshop Saturday by Scott "The Piano Guy" Houston at Music City, 1322 N. Monroe St. Houston, an author and television personality, says he can teach anyone to play the piano in three and a half hours.

Area arts organizations are eligible for discount admission to the 37th Annual Western Arts Alliance Conference, Tuesday through Saturday at the Spokane Convention Center. More than 700 performing arts executives, artists and managers are meeting to review performing acts that are available for bookings. There's also a trade show, professional development seminars, forums and guest speakers, including a keynote address Wednesday by Pulitzer winner Gunther Schuller. Arts organization members can register at a discount for individual workshops or the entire conference beginning at 11:30 a.m..

The Gonzaga University music department will host a dedication ceremony and reception for its new choral rehearsal hall, the Saint Gregory Choral Hall, at 4:30 p.m. Friday. The event is free and open to the public. The facility at 128 E. Boone Ave. will be dedicated in honor of St. Gregory the Great, the patron saint of singers and teachers and the legendary compiler of Gregorian chant. He was elected pope on Sept. 3, the date of the dedication, and this year marks the 1,400th anniversary of his death.

Whitworth College has been awarded a National Endowment for the Arts grant under the "Challenge America: Access to the Arts" program. The $15,000 grant supports the development of the Visiting Artists in Printmaking program, which focuses on multicultural artists who will conduct printing workshops on campus and work with faculty and students on creating original prints.

The Timber Stand Gallery in Sandpoint is holding its second annual silent auction to benefit the Festival at Sandpoint. Auction items will be featured today at the festival finale during the pre-concert Taste of the Stars wine tasting from 4:30 to 7 p.m. This will be the last chance to make a bid on more than 20 items ranging from limited-edition prints by Stephen Lyman to originals by such artists as Timothy Thies of Coeur d'Alene, who has won several national awards and been featured in numerous magazines throughout his career. Also featured during the tasting will be artist Mike Wise, who will demonstrate his painting style and auction off an original at 7 p.m.

Spokane Children's Theatre will hold auditions next Sunday and Aug. 16 for its upcoming production of "The Princess and the Pea." Director Jan Canfield is seeking' three boys or men and eight girls or women for the cast (no singing necessary).

The "Traveling Wall" Vietnam Memorial will be on display at the Coeur d'Alene Casino Resort Hotel in Worley, Idaho, from Monday through Friday. The wall, a 4/5 -scale replica of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., bears the names of more than 58,000 men and women killed during the Vietnam War. It stands 8 feet high at its apex and spans 378 feet.

THE COEUR D'ALENE PUBLIC LIBRARY is one of five Idaho libraries chosen to host a new theme in the Let's Talk About It reading and discussion series this fall. The new series, featuring books about the Lewis and Clark expedition, is sponsored by the Idaho State Library and the Idaho Council on the Humanities, with local matching funds from the Friends of the Coeur d'Alene Public Library.

Lily Open House – Daily from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. through Sunday , at The Fruitful Acre Daylily Farm, 3391 Hwy 25 North, just seven miles south of Northport at the intersection of Hwy 25 and Onion Creek Road. Stroll through the ¾ acre garden of 450 different varieties of daylilies, some 25,000 plants. Refreshments provided. Call 509-732-8954 for more information or www.thefruitfulacre.com U-Pick Lavender Weekends – Continues today through Sunday, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at Leisure Lavender Farm, 3529 N. Lynden in Otis Orchards. Experience the fragrant organic blossoms, pick your own fresh bundles of lavender and enjoy some lavender tea. Call 927-0405 or www.leisurelavender.com.

Spokane Civic Theatre will hold auditions Aug. 15 and 16 for "Noises Off," the opening play in its 2004-05 Mainstage season. Director Troy Nickerson is looking for 10 actors to appear between the ages of 20 and 65 (six men and four women). Auditioners should prepare a monologue that is no longer than one minute. Auditions will be at 7 p.m. both days in the Studio Theatre in the lower level of the Civic, 1020 N. Howard St. (entrance off Dean Avenue). For more information, call 325-1413.

Spokane's Allegro Baroque and Beyond classical music group has hired its first full-time executive director. Carla J. Warren, most recently director of development for the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Idaho, will join Allegro in time for next weekend's Royal Fireworks Festival in Riverfront Park. Allegro co-founders Beverly Biggs and David Dutton will continue as artistic directors. Biggs, who also has provided executive support to the organization, is moving to North Carolina in the fall but will continue to be featured in Spokane concerts.

Performer applications for the ninth annual Spokane Fall Folk Festival are available at www.spokanefolklore.org. This year's daylong festival, sponsored by the Spokane Folklore Society, will be at the Spokane Community College Lair on Nov. 6. The free event features seven stages of traditional and ethnic dance and music along with workshops and special entertainment and crafts for children.

Auditions begin Saturday for Pop Star USA, a local singing talent competition that could earn the winner a trip to audition for "American Idol." The auditions will be Saturday, next Sunday and July 16 and 18 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at CenterStage, 1017 W. First Ave. Performers must be at least age 16 and will sing a cappella for up to a minute before a panel of three judges. A semifinal competition will be July 21 at CenterStage, with the finals July 30 at a location to be announced. The winner, if 25 or younger, will receive a round-trip ticket and two-day hotel stay to a national "American Idol" audition, plus studio recording time. (If 26 or older, and ineligible for "Idol," other prizes will be awarded in addition to studio time.)

Applications are being accepted for this year's No Boundaries competition and traveling exhibition for Northwest artists with disabilities. Pieces accepted for the juried show will be displayed at art galleries throughout the region over the coming year, including Washington State University next March. Four cash awards will be given in recognition of outstanding work. The exhibit is sponsored by VSA Arts of Washington, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing arts opportunities created by, for and with persons with disabilities throughout the state.

A new sculpture by renowned Spokane artist Harold Balazs has been added to the Lewis and Clark High School campus through a Washington state program supporting art in public places. "Discovery," which symbolizes the journeys of explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark as well as those of everyday high school students, was installed on the western grounds of the campus last month.

The City of Sandpoint Arts Commission is launching an "Art by the Inch" campaign to increase the amount of public art in town. Since no city money is available to purchase public art, people are asked to contribute $10 per inch to buy sculptures and benches to be displayed in public places around Sandpoint. The pieces will be chosen by the Sandpoint City Council from among the works on display during the city's summer Artwalk, which began Friday.