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NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN FOR THE 2025 ARTS AWARDS!

Spokane Arts is excited to host the 47^th Annual Arts Awards—a celebration of the arts community in Spokane! Join us on Saturday, September 13, 2025 at the beautiful Myrtle Woldson Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of Gonzaga University for live music, performances, poetry, and the presentation of the Arts Awards! This year’s theme is “HOMECOMMING!” Whether you have fond memories of your own high school homecoming, skipped that lame event to do “other things,” or never had the opportunity, this event is sure to bring out everyone from cheerleaders to goths, band geeks to burnouts, and everything in between! Attendees are encouraged to dress in whatever Homecoming means to them for fun and prizes!

The Arts Awards recognize the accomplishments of creatives, arts and cultural organizations, and local individuals committed to enriching our community through the arts. Nominees are celebrated in six categories that reflect the values of Spokane Arts: Leadership, Collaboration, Imagination, Inclusion, Youth Arts Leadership, and Arts Advocacy. In each category, nominated artists, volunteers, neighborhoods, educators, organizations, community leaders, or donors are selected by a panel of Arts Commissioners and community arts representatives from the pool of community-nominated candidates. Emerging or established, young or old, on the edge or in the center – Spokane Arts strives to celebrate and recognize the wealth of participation in Spokane’s creative ecosystem.

Questions about the Arts Awards event? Email devonte@spokanearts.org
2025 Arts Awards artwork by Spokane artist Kate Reed.

NOMINATE SOMEONE TODAY!

FIRST FRIDAY AT THE CHASE: PORTRAITS FROM WITHIN

PORTRAITS FROM WITHIN; FOUR EMERGING SPOKANE ARTISTS

EMILY FLYNN-DELAY, CARLY ELLIS, LILY HENDERSON, ELSA OXFORD
MAY FIRST FRIDAY OPENING RECEPTION: May 2nd – 5:30 – 7 PM

(Enter City Hall through the sliding doors on N. Post St.. Chase Gallery is on the lower level) This exhibition runs for 2 months.

City Hall, lower level
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.
Dates: May 2, – June 27, 2025.
Open to the Public. Hours 9am – 5pm, M-F

Explore the various experiences of young women artists in Spokane through the work of Emily Flynn-Delay, Carly Ellis, Lily Henderson and Elsa Oxford.

While employing different mediums and a wide range of viewpoints, all four artists use portraiture to explore questions of self-perception and identity as young women, focusing their lens on themselves and those in their inner circle. Another common thread among all four is that they have, at some point in their lives, called Spokane “home” and are relatively recent university art program graduates.To spice up what is already sure to be an entertaining opening, SPKNARTS and the curator, Kelly Baker, have booked DJ Spicy Ketchup to provide music for the event. *First Friday Opening – Enter City Hall through the sliding doors on N. Post St. entrance. Chase Gallery is on the lower level.

CALLING ALL YOUTH POETS!

photo by Ivan Samkov on Pexels

Calling all POETS in grades 8 through 12!

YOUTH POETRY at Kendall Yards Night Market!

Curated by Spokane’s Poet Laureate, Mery Smith!

Come down to Night Market and make your voice heard. We need to hear from you irl. Every Wednesday 4-6 pm. Read your first drafts or your next villanelle. Let’s fill the gaps with language and color. Let’s make sure we know what it is you are hoping for, what you are afraid of, what is your joy, your five year plan, your friend’s name? This is a chance to celebrate the season and share your poetry with the Night Market and neighborhood community!

Fill out this simple application and you could be a participant at Night Market this summer! applications close May 9, so get them in now, and tell all your friends!

APPLY NOW:

https://smr.to/p102983

APPLY HERE!

STUDENT ART CONTEST HITS THE STREETS! Open Call to young artist in Spokane!

Ever thought about having your design cast in iron to be enjoyed for decades? Spokane Arts and the City of Spokane’s Wastewater Management Department have the contest for you!

Students who are age 18 and under and live in the City of Spokane are invited to submit a design for a wastewater access cover, also known as a manhole cover. The selected design will be cast and used in locations throughout the City.

This fun contest happens every five years and has been adding creativity to our streets for decades. The City installs or replaces approximately 100 access covers every year. There is no extra cost to the City to have the iron covers reflect these creative designs and can last 50 years or more. The winning artist will help beautify our community for generations.

The chosen design will receive $100, have their designed access cover placed near their home, and be publicly recognized. The designs will be evaluated by members of the staff of Wastewater Management Department, Spokane Arts Commission, and community representatives.

DESIGN & ELIGIBILITY
THEME
Designs should be reflective of the ecology, water, nature, creatures or landscape of the Inland Northwest. What do you love about the river? How would you protect the river?

REQUIREMENTS
Open to all students 18 and younger in the City of Spokane. Designs must be appropriate and appeal to a public audience. High contrast, black and white images with larger, simple shapes will be most suitable for casting. No fine detail.

ENTRY INFORMATION
Drawn submissions must be received by 11:59 p.m., Friday, May 30, 2025. Entries can be submitted via the ONLINE FORM or using the template, and mailed to: Student Wastewater Access Cover Contest, 909 E. Sprague Ave. Spokane, WA 99202.

APPLY USING THE BUTTON BELOW!

ENTER HERE!

Events!

Use our events calendar to discover visual, stage, music, dance, cultural and other arts events to enjoy. Artists, organizations, and locations who hosts events and provide opportunities, are also encouraged to submit events.