What you missed at First Friday Art Walk

The Ashe West African Drum and Dance Group presented an awesome demonstration of West African drumming and dancing.

Click on the following link, or copy and paste into a browser for a brief slide show of the group's performance.

http://picasaweb.google.com/dixon.kay/AsheWestAfricanDrumAndDanceGroup#

Press Release announcing our opening exhibit in September

This Press Release is being sent to all local media contacts this week.

The Inland Northwest Peace Corps Association

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 9, 2010
PEACE CORPS COMMEMORATES 50 YEARS IN 2011!
The Inland Northwest Peace Corps Association (INPCA) Invites the Public to a Series of Exhibits in Spokane Showcasing Folk Art and Cultures From Peace Corps Sites Around the World

Model cars made of old tin cans. Beads fashioned from mud and melted flipflops. Art etched on recycled silver. Museum pieces. Wood, soapstone, and metal sculptures. Fabrics. Photos.
These are just some of the highlights of a new exhibit featuring the work of artisans from several countries in Africa. The arts and crafts not only reflect the traditions and way of life of the people who created them, but they are also examples of how these cultures continue to strive for survival and sustainability.
This exhibit on African folk art is the first of a series of exhibits sponsored by the Inland Northwest Peace Corps Association, an organization of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who wish to share their treasures, experiences, and knowledge of the countries where they served. Future exhibits will include folk art from Europe, the Middle East, Asia and other parts of the globe.
“Service in Peace Corps encompasses three goals: The first two goals are to travel to the host country and work along side local people to help solve common problems facing the host country. The Third Goal is to return to the United States to educate our citizens about the country in which we served.” noted Kay Dixon who has been coordinating this exhibit.
Ira Amstadter, President of the INPCA, reminds us that “All of our experiences have been different, different countries, different American images…. and our service activities were also quite different…. Through this exhibit we intend to share and honor these differences as well as respect the commonality that in many ways unites us together as citizens of the world.”
In 2011, Peace Corps will celebrate its 50th anniversary of service to developing countries. Nearly 200,000 Americans have traveled to various parts of the world to serve as volunteers. Nearly 9500 from Washington and Idaho have served as Peace Corps Volunteers. The State of Washington ranks third for most Peace Corps Volunteers produced since 1961. Currently, there are 384 residents from Washington and Idaho serving.
As part of Spokane’s First Friday Art Walk, the Peace Corps exhibit on African cultures opens Friday, September 3 in the gallery of Express Employment Professionals, 331 W. Main St. The show will run through October. The Ashe West African Drum and Dance group will perform for the First Friday; snacks will be provided by the Queen of Sheba restaurant.
For more information, please visit http://inpca.net or contact Kay Dixon at (509) 868-0302 or by e-mail at kay.dixon@yahoo.com.

August First Friday at Kevin and Kay Dixon

First Friday event .. August 6 at 5:30 or 6 or thereabouts! (Peace Corps time!) is a pot luck supper at Kevin and Kay Dixon's house, 619 E Martingale Ct , Spokane , 99224. Telephone: 868 0302.

Directions: Follow Rte 195 South (this is the road to Pullman ) from I - 90 (exit 279). Three miles down the road, turn left onto Meadowlane Road (Next to the Qualchan Creek golf course). Follow Meadowlane to the end, continue through the Bridlewood Gate. Follow Bridlewood Road to the end, bear left . . you are on Martingale and the house is 619.

Plates, silverware, soft drinks and water will be available.

First Friday (June 4) at Express

Hello to all,

Feeling left out, alone, not part of the local scene...

Join with fellow compatriots and local Returned Peace Corps Volunteers to be part of the happenings....this Friday, beginning about 5 p.m. local time at the Express Pro offices on Main Street – 331 west Main off the corner of Main and Washington kiddy corner from Aunties Bookstore.

(First, custom says we gather and chat and share a beverage (BYO), maybe a snack or not! Then, depending upon the group, venture forth for dinner together at an area restaurant.)

Time to discuss and learn about the forthcoming art, folk art and "stuff" we all have collected, not only from our Peace Corps experience, but from our travels everywhere in which Peace Corps has served and how we can share this collection through a series of planned exhibits in the Express Pro lobby/exhibit area.

We (this is the Editorial "we", meaning how can you contribute to the success of this project!) are planning to begin an extended display of our collective art, folk art and items to tell the stories of the countries in which we have served.

The exhibit will kick off in September with African art, continue with displays from the Americas in November, then in the new year, will pick up with EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Asia) and or APAC (Asia Pacific, Australia) targeted displays.

The success of this exhibit is dependent upon the collective items from all our travels. What do you have to share? Art work, folk art, local handicrafts, jewelry, clothing and what are the stories behind our collections?

What should accompany or kick off these exhibits? Food samples? Music and dancing representing the geographic area? What more?

Plan to attend this week's First Friday event to help develop this series of exhibits.

Remember we are very new to the area and not aware of all the local possibilities. Help us learn! And we firmly believe in the Third Goal of the Peace Corps ... "helping to promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of the Americans!" What better way to promote better understanding than to display our examples of the richness of the countries in which we have served and traveled.

Come for fellowship and join the discussion! See you all this Friday!
Kay Dixon
Home: (Spokane, Washington) 509 868 0302

Art/Cultural Exhibit to promote Peace Corps 3rd Goal and Celebrate 50 years of Peace Corps

As RPCVs, we hear often of our responsibilities to promote the Third Goal: “Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.”
Exactly what does this mean? What does this look like?

Now as we prepare to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Peace Corps, what does THAT mean? (Has it really been that long since Kennedy asked “Not what our country can do for us, but what can we do for our country?)

Let’s use this wonderful opportunity to tell the stories of the countries in which Peace Corps Volunteers have served; to celebrate the rich histories, the art, the culture, the peoples of the multiple places in which we have served.

Below is a proposal for a series of exhibits using the Express Pro office space/lobby on Main Street, Spokane. Phenomenal location and offers wonderful space to present our story!

Who: Inland Northwest RPCVs
What: Art/ culture / folk art exhibit to celebrate/tell the story of the countries in which Peace Corps has served or is currently serving
Where: Express Pro office space / lobby Main Street Spokane
How: RPCVs share their collective art and folk art items and the stories these pieces represent to display in Ira’ offices for a defined period of time.
We should also look for artists (visual, media, musical, etc.) who are in the Inland Northwest who are from the countries where Peace Corps has served (and may have been impacted positively from their experience with PCVs).
Sources to identify/find these artists: Embassy offices, consulate offices, local universities, newspaper articles, etc

KINDS OF THINGS THAT WOULD BE INTERESTING FOR THIS EXHIBIT:
Pictures from your experiences or of sights within the country…. Framed, no smaller than 8 x 10. Also digital images (.jpg that we could use in a digital frame for an ongoing exhibit)
Clothing… local traditional dress or ceremonial costumes (Example: Colombian ruanas!)
The “stuff” we all seem to have: baskets, crafts, batik, carvings, religious artifacts.
Also, do not limit your potential exhibit items to just those items from the country in which you served, but if you have traveled to other parts of the world where Peace Corps Volunteers have served, then items that you have collected from these travels.
Items that you are able to provide need to be identified so they can be returned to you after the exhibit. Also, need to provide description/story of the item you provide. Be available for the first Friday exhibit to share your experience with attendees (informal format).

Art/Cultural Exhibit - September 2010

Please provide items for exhibit by August 27. Suggestion for special event: African drumming, and if the spirit moves you, African dancing?

Art/Cultural Exhibit - November 2010 is EMEA Region (change of display)

Some initial ideas. Colombian Coffee Tasting? Jamaica (and rum) Food Tasting? Give us some more ideas. Tell us how you can help.