Deer Park Panel Will Boost Arts

Already known as a quiet farming town, Deer Park is taking a step toward cosmopolitan status by adding an arts commission.

The Deer Park City Council voted unanimously last week to create an arts commission and to provide $1,200 in funding. The commission will be governed by five commissioners, appointed by Deer Park Mayor Bob Dano. Applications are available at City Hall.

The commission proposal was submitted by an informal group of local art enthusiasts who hope to add some refined culture to the list of activities available to school-age kids in Deer Park.

“We hope that we can reach out to some of these juveniles who don’t have anything to do and get them interested in other things,” said Dano.

“The northern part of Spokane County has been neglected in areas of art, and we have the opportunity to increase the awareness in Deer Park and outlying areas,” said Deer Park resident Jonnie Shaunessey, who has been on a Washington State Arts Commission board for community college art.

Brenda Lippert, co-owner of a graphic design company and a prime force behind the commission, said she has been pleasantly surprised by the local support.

“We have a pretty conservative community, after all,” said Lippert.

No one testified in opposition to the proposal.

Commission organizer Cherry Meredith said the panel would be “staying away from controversial art.

“A crucifix in a jar of urine would not go over well here,” said Meredith, referring to a controversial Robert Mapplethorpe work.

Lippert said the commission is a necessity in a town like Deer Park that is removed from larger cultural centers. She sees an arts commission with varying purposes: historical repository, spur for local theater productions, and instructional center for local painters, sculptors and craftsmen.

Plans are still tentative, although support from local artists is solid. More than a dozen people have offered their time or resources, according to the commission proposal.

Five local musicians have signed up as contacts.

The Deer Park Tribune newspaper and several local historians agreed to collect historical data on the town.

The primary focus for the commission, Lippert said, would be developing an artistic interest in the community and children.

“If we are going to have kids who are creative problem-solvers, one way we are going to do that is exposure to the arts,” said Lippert, who specializes in computer-assisted art.

The commission will start work almost immediately after it is formed. Office space has not been found, but the commission could be located on the top floor of the Deer Park City Hall.

Lippert said the money would help the commission to send out mailings for private donations and to research the availability of grants.

Dano said the commission would be expected to raise private funds.

Commission backers are not the only ones who have found Deer Park to be lacking in refined culture. A 1995 community survey of Deer Park conducted by a group of upper-level Eastern Washington University students found recreational activities to be “limited.”

, DataTimes