The Slice: Time to put pizza magnets to work

The problem with school being out is that this tends to cut off the supply of refrigerator art.

From September to May, the pipeline of children’s creative contributions to kitchen décor flows freely – at least in families with grade-school kids. But then comes summer vacation and that supply tends to dwindle to a trickle.

Sure, kids can paint and draw at home. Lots do.

Still, there’s nothing like a teacher regularly assigning art projects to ensure that there’s enough early impressionism to go around. You know, one or two for home, one for Grandma Hazel, one for Aunt Jeanette, and so on.

Well, to help fill this void, I’m announcing The Slice’s Summertime Refrigerator Art Contest. Anyone 10 or younger is invited to enter.

Here are the rules.

Have the child create an original painting or drawing. Give this work a title. Send it in. The deadline is July 21.

That’s it.

Oh, be sure to note the young artist’s name, age, address and phone number. If you would like your submission returned, be sure to include a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

One request: Please allow the children to do their own work.

Any subject matter is fair game. But here are a dozen possible themes.

1. This is what our pet dreams about.

2. Here’s what I’d take on a picnic.

3. This is my best friend.

4. My day at the beach.

5. Looking out my window.

6. Here’s where we went on vacation.

7. This is my bike.

8. Here is what’s under my bed late at night.

9. This is how downtown Spokane looks to me.

10. My favorite park.

11. This is me as a grown-up.

12. The view from the back seat.

“What the: An article on the “Yahoo! Answers” online community in last Sunday’s magazine section of The New York Times started this way: “You’re not supposed to use the Internet like a Magic 8 Ball. Google can’t tell you whether you’ll pass the bar exam or find happiness in Spokane.”

Yes, Spokane.

I sent the writer an e-mail, asking if that reference was purely random or what. Maybe I’ll hear back from her. Maybe not.

I suspect she just liked the sound of it. And, in her mind, it probably represented an amusingly zany lifestyle choice.

In any event, I took it as a compliment to the Lilac City that she wrote “Spokane” and not “Spokane, Wash.”

“Today’s Slice question: So did you find happiness in Spokane?