Symphony Fund-Raising Committee Complete

Three more business leaders have been enlisted to help the Spokane Symphony raise between $3.5 and $4.5 million for its endowment fund, “Building the Sound of the Future.”

With the appointment of Gary Shea, Eleanor Andersen and William Simer, the fund-raising committee is now complete, said Jonathan Martin, executive director of the symphony’s board of trustees.

Shea, senior vice president of D.A. Davidson and president-elect of the symphony’s board of trustees, will head the campaign’s Special Gifts Division. He will work with 20 volunteers to solicit pledges in the $10,000 to $25,000 range.

Anderson, program director of Junior Achievement of the Inland Northwest and immediate past-president of Women Helping Women, will chair the General Gifts Division to collect more than 150 gifts between $5,000 and $10,000.

Simer, a partner with the accounting firm of McDirmid, Mikkelsen & Secrest and a symphony trustee, will help build a community division to spread the word about the symphony and generate new friends.

Simer’s group will solicit gifts of any size. Those who donate even a $25 gift are loved donors, said Kay Rafferty, spokeswoman.

The campaign money is for an endowment so “musical quality programming and education for today’s audiences may be initiated, supported and preserved,” Martin said. “We are at a critical crossroads and we look forward to the involvement of many new faces in the community.”

Disabled artists take note

Artists with disabilities are invited to submit their work to the 1997-98 “No Boundaries Art Exhibit,” sponsored by Very Special Arts Washington.

Submissions by artists who are residents of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska and Montana will be considered. Accepted mediums include drawing, photography, print, textiles, watercolor, oil, mixed media, graphics, ceramics and sculpture.

The exhibit’s grand opening will be Oct. 17 at Seattle’s Harrison Street Gallery. The exhibit will then be displayed in various Northwest galleries for the next eight months.

Artists must submit slides of no more than four works, along with an entry form, biography, artist’s photograph and a $10 fee.

Submissions must be postmarked by Aug. 20. Those selected will be notified by mail.

To receive an entry form or for more information call (206) 443-1843 or (206) 213-0023. Or, write to VSAW No Boundaries 1997-98, 305 Harrison St. No. 303, Seattle WA 98109.

Jazz, modern dance classes

Ballet Arts Academy, 408-1/2 W. Sprague, will hold classes in modern dance and jazz dance this week. Vincas Greene, assistant professor of dance at Brenau University in Georgia, will teach a modern dance class for intermediate and advanced dancers from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Robin Greene, a faculty member of the Gainesville Ballet company, will teach a jazz master class for intermediate and advanced dancers from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The fee for each class is $8; no advance registration is required. For more information call 838-5705.

An $8,000 art award available

The Seattle Art Museum has announced its final call for entries into the Betty Bowen Memorial Award Competition with its $8,000 winning purse.

The event is open to artists in all media, except film and video, who are residents of Washington, Oregon or Idaho.

To enter, send six slides of recent work labeled with your name, the art piece’s title, date and dimensions, a resume and a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Betty Bowen Committee, Modern Art Dept., Seattle Art Museum, P.O. Box 22000, Seattle, WA 98122.

Submissions must be postmarked by Friday.

For more information call (206) 654-3131.