Spokane

The art scene in Spokane: Terrain 8

11/02/2015 by Nick Thomas Leave a Comment

For the past 8 years, the nonprofit Terrain organization has hosted their hugely popular interactive art events in funky locations around Spokane. This October was the biggest yet: over 8,000 people visited throughout the single night event. And as you might expect, EWU students and faculty could be found nearly everywhere.

terrain1 — Spokane Poetry Slam organizer Isaac Grambo stokes the crowd

Chris Leja

Terrain showcased 300 works of art by more than 150 regional artists. The event also featured live music, a poetry slam, author readings and artwork of all types. The event took place in the beautifully refurbished 120-year-old Washington Cracker Co. warehouse near EWU’s downtown Spokane campus.

Nearly every artwork boasted an orange “sold” sticker, and the event brought in over $10,000 in sales for local artists. Many of these artists are EWU students, alumni and faculty. One of them is Monica Hoblin, a senior in EWU’s highly respected graphic design program. You can see some of her projects on Behance.

Around the corner from Terrain, EWU professors Lisa Nappa, Roger Ralston and colleagues had installed a sprawling video projected onto the street level windows of the historic Ridpath Hotel. The project combined technology and design to transform the empty windows of a normally quiet city street into revolving fields of color.

terrrain2 — Apollo astronaut spaces out on abstract art

Terrain was held on an already busy First Friday, which is the monthly art celebration in Spokane. The city’s galleries, restaurants, and cafes fill with crowds of all ages enjoying artwork and live music.

Access to a major city’s nightlife and art scene is just one of the key benefits of life as an EWU student, and it helps explain how EWU’s poets, artists, filmmakers, and designers are able to build dynamic portfolios even before they graduate from EWU

Admitted Student Day: The Things You Missed About Admissions

05/31/2014 by cbrazell Leave a Comment

You can become an Eagle today!! Apply now!

In April, EWU hosted one of the largest admissions events in over 10 years, Admitted Student Day. We filled the two largest auditoriums on campus, nearly filled a third, and an estimated 1,000 people took part in the day-long event.

For those students looking to make their college decision, the day provided more than just information. Dr. Tony Flynn, a hilarious guest speaker and professor of English who teaches 20th century British and American literature, started the day off with the number one thing you needed to know about be successful in college. (Hint: it’s easier than you think. Send us an email if you’re still curious.)

Most of the day was filled with sessions which covered dozens of topics including financial aid, admissions, jobs after college, and more. Students also had the chance to attend academic fairs, to speak with department counselors, to devour delicious food, and to tour residence halls. To top it off, we had wonderful weather!

So how can apply or confirm if I missed Admitted Student Day?

There are two things you’ll need to do.

First, you should visit campus. I’m an EWU student worker in the Visitor Center, and I know that visiting campus matters whether you’re looking at EWU or anywhere else. In fact, I don’t think you can pick the right campus without visiting it first. If you missed Admitted Student Day, or if you’re planning for fall 2015, you need to take a tour.

Second, it means it’s time to take your next steps toward confirming to college.

At EWU, there are eight steps in the enrollment process after you’ve been admitted. You may already be a couple steps in, or maybe you are starting at step one, but either way, here is a link to our enrollment guide.

Let me break down some of the key steps.

If you haven’t applied yet, scroll down to the last paragraph and go from there!

The most important step of all, confirm to EWU!
Once that’s done, the next step is to confirm your housing plans. Here’s a link to our Housing and Residential Life page to answer any questions you may have. (You’ll need your official university email for this.)
Next, we talk financial aid. You may have already received your financial aid package, but if you haven’t, keep your eyes peeled and check your EagleNET account. Financial aid might seem like scary stuff, but if you have any questions about how the financial aid process works, our Financial Aid Office will be more than happy to help.
Finally, if you’ve confirmed EWU, confirmed housing, and confirmed your financial aid package, the next step is to sign up for firstStep. A summer academic orientation event, firstStep is your opportunity to familiarize yourself with the campus and to register for classes.

Now you may be asking, what if I’ve missed all these deadlines, or have yet to apply to college, but I finally decided I want to go to a four-year university? Don’t worry. Don’t stress. You can still apply now for fall, and we’d be more than happy to walk you through those steps as well. Contact our Admissions Office for more information. It’s never too late to start something big!

Like to shred? Then shred Spokane.

07/10/2012 by jlittleton1 Leave a Comment

Little known and entirely unexpected fact: Spokane has an intensely vibrant skateboard subculture.

Hop aboard the free bus to downtown Spokane some summer morning and count the designers, shopkeeps and students bombing down the South Hill to grab a coffee or complete a few jumps before the day begins. Even at EWU, the skateboard is a principle mode of transportation. (The “Bike versus Skateboard” count on campus is pretty much even, unless you’re counting wheels, in which case the skateboarders will definitely win.)

This weekend, that vibrant culture is getting even more colorful for the first annual WE RUN THIS CITY: 42 Hour Skateboard Contest. Imagine a 24-hour film festival on wheels, add 18 hours and about a dozen cups of java to get you through two days without sleep, and you’ve got the idea.

Whether you skate or hold the camera, it’s awesome to see the city’s skateboarders come together for creative events like this. If you’re heading to Eastern this fall and you shred, we hope to see your video in the lineup next year.

The Olive Garden reviewer

03/09/2012 by jlittleton1 Leave a Comment

Marilyn Hagerty catapulted to Internet fame for her review of the Olive Garden, and my middle-of-nowhere, small-town heart loves it.

The story, that is, not the Olive Garden. The Olive Garden is sometimes hard to love … but Marilyn—she’s something special. If you haven’t followed her story, here’s the gist of it.

For several decades, Marilyn has reviewed restaurants in Grand Forks, ND, population 66,991. With only 100 or so active restaurants in the whole town, necessity has forced her to review places like Taco Bell and Dippin’ Dots. Desperate times, desperate measures.

When her review of the Olive Garden went viral, people didn’t know what to make of it. Was it irony? Was she totally honest? Was she crazy?

Now that the full story is out, it’s clear that the snarky, hard-working 85-year-old and her friendly reviews embody the absolute best of small-town life.

Some might call it niceness. Some might call it sincerity. We might even describe it as grace or honesty or perseverance or a warm acceptance of small-town reality. Because let’s face it: small towns don’t have the same night-life that big cities do.

If you live in a small town, you know this. Having grown up in a community of less than 5,000 people, it felt like we had survived a nuclear apocalypse and all we got in exchange was a Pizza Ranch with really bad hours. But we still went, because that’s what we had … and we had fun.

Marilyn doesn’t impersonate critics in New York or Paris or someplace else, and she doesn’t come across as cynical or jaded like the food critics in those cities. That’s how her homey review of the Olive Garden captured the attention of so many people: it made people realize you can still enjoy life without living in one of the world’s top cities or pretending that you’re in some posh glamor ad.

That realization makes Eastern great, too. We get the small-town sincerity of Cheney, but we also get the large-city culture of Spokane. You actually get to choose which world you call home. You can even choose both, if you want. Few schools that can say that.

Cheney is the best of small towns, of course. It has a major university and businesses that cater to students. It’s safe. There’s free transportation for students. It has a handful of unique restaurants coupled with all the dives and fast food joints that college students love. (Speaking from experience, Taco Bell at 2 a.m. sounds way better than it turns out to be.) It’s surrounded by adventure including hiking, cycling, skiing, swimming, rafting and rock climbing.

But it’s still a small town, and it feels that way when you step into a café or stop by the grocery store. It’s kind of nice, really.

If small town friendliness isn’t for you, you can choose Spokane and the half million people in the metro area. You can have your arena shows, dozens of coffee shops, nightlife and genuinely amazing restaurants. (The best Italian in Spokane is clearly Italia Trattoria, FYI.)

But that’s the essence of Eastern: having choices. City mouse, country mouse. Small town quiet, big city hustle. It’s entirely up to you, and we love that freedom.