From Classic To Funky, Arts Tour Offers Wide Variety Of Styles

Let’s all hope that spring has sprung by Friday so everyone will feel like getting out between 5 and 9 p.m. for the Visual Arts Tour.

The tour is coordinated by the Spokane City Arts Department once a season and offers rare evening visiting hours with the affiliated arts groups. Those of us who bravely joined last season’s tour found the subzero wind factor had quite a chilling effect, but this spring tour is promising in more ways than the weather; the lineup of shows for Friday definitely calls for an evening of art hopping.

Nineteen arts groups will be participating and among the offerings are a few highlights that shouldn’t be missed.

The work of two local favorites, Ken Keefer and Ken Hinton, will be on display at the downtown Chase Gallery in City Hall. These two artists, retired Spokane Falls Community College fine arts instructors, have produced works that complement each other’s styles in their color and multifaceted abstractions. The evolution of these artists’ processes, from drawings to fully formed images, is paralleled by the layers of meaning, medium and image in the final products.

Dean-Craig Derek Eliasen has an impressive array of newer watercolors and acrylics at Eastern Washington University’s gallery of art. The opening of this one-man show, “Necessary Space,” will be held concurrently with the visual arts tour on Friday, and well merits the trip to Cheney.

Eliasen’s unique application of paint results in vivid designs springing from color and carefully orchestrated linear arrangements. The essence of these designs hints at mystical or intangible theory, but in fact underscores very tangible earthly realities.

For the funkier side of the evening, Garb*Age will be hosting a performance piece/fashion show at 8 p.m., “Sinderalla: A Fashiontale.” This is a modern spin on the classic Cinderella, a Cinderalla bedecked with Garb*Age’s very contemporary and unique clothing designs. In addition, Hot Flash of America will be hosting its annual “Second to Last Supper Show,” always a fun pick.

And for those who never seem to have time to visit the area museums, the Corbin Art Center, Jundt Art Museum and Cheney Cowles also will be open for the tour.

Obviously there are plenty of reasons to make at least a few stops on Friday evening, and for a complete list of participating locations contact the Spokane Arts Commission at 625-6050 (or any of the locations mentioned above). A detailed brochure is available, which also gives information regarding the special bus transportation offered by the Spokane Transit Authority.

The tour happens to be a particularly festive way to take in some art, but for those stops missed on Friday - not to worry. Most of the locations run hours on the following Saturday and beyond.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: ART TOUR The spring Visual Arts Tour will be held Friday from 5-9 p.m. at 19 locations.