Make beautiful art at the Old Hotel this month
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 1 month AGO
Stephanie Copas, director of the Old Hotel Art Gallery, will teach most of the classes this month at the gallery, but is always looking for volunteers to teach more, she said.
FILE PHOTO
Sparkly dragon eggs can be made at the Old Hotel Art Gallery July 30.
Painting with soap bubbles will be the subject of an art class Aug. 5 at the Old Hotel Art Gallery in Othello.
Students can make a terrarium filled with otherworldly-looking air plants at the Old Hotel and Gallery Aug. 9.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | July 29, 2024 1:00 AM
OTHELLO — There are lots of chances coming up to try your hand at art at the Old Hotel Art Gallery in Othello.
“Our art classes are something that the Old Hotel has done for a very long time,” said gallery Director Samantha Copas. “I took classes here when I was a kid, and it kind of died off for a little bit … Then I got hired as the director last June, and that was something that I really wanted to bring back, turn it back into an Othello tradition.”
The classes are planned now through mid-August, Copas said. Most of them are for all ages, and parents have the option to stay with their kids or not. Participants are encouraged to wear clothes they don’t mind getting stained, as good art is prone to be messy.
Tuesday’s class is making dragon eggs, dazzling little spheroids made from air-dry clay.
“It's basically a white clay and you can add dye to it to color it, and then you mold it into an egg. Then you can add paint to it, you can add all kinds of gems, beads, shells to it and kind of make it your own. And then you let it dry and you've got an egg. It’s really cool.”
That class is at 5:30 p.m. and the fee is $12, according to the schedule.
On Saturday, the grownups take over for Paint & Sip. Instructor Nellie Hoots will break down the the process of painting and lead participants in painting a highland cow. As the name would suggest, participants are encouraged to bring beverages, with or without alcohol, to enjoy while they paint.
“This is something that we're trying out,” Copas said. “You just bring your own beverage — it doesn't have to be alcohol — and you can just kind of hang out, have fun and build something nice.”
Because of the possibility of alcohol present, children 10 and up are welcome at BYOB events if they’re accompanied by an adult, but smaller children should stay home, Copas said. The cost for that class is $30 per person and it starts at 7 p.m.
All ages are welcome again Aug. 5 for squirt gun and bubble painting. Artists can aim squirt guns filled with various paints at a piece of paper, or use bubble wands to blow soap bubbles infused with pigment to create vibrant designs. For obvious reasons, this class will be held outdoors. It’s at 11 a.m. and the cost is $10.
Aug. 9 will see another BYOB class, making an air plant terrarium.
“Those are a type of plant that does not have to be planted in soil,” Copas said. “In the wild, they usually just hang off of trees They're really neat plants; they look kind of alien, almost. And what we're going to do is get a container, and then students will fill it with rocks or sand, and they'll have a few air plants, different types of plants that they can choose from, and a few other little decorative pieces that they can add in.”
The air plant terrarium class is at 6:30 p.m. and the cost is $30.
On Aug. 10, there will be a class in making beautiful inlaid stepping stones for the garden, and Aug. 12, students can make a suncatcher in a butterfly or dragonfly design. Both those classes are at 11 a.m. The charge for the stepping stones class is $15, and the suncatcher class is $8.
Copas herself teaches most of the classes, she said, but the Old Hotel is always looking for volunteers to share their knowledge of a particular art or craft.
The Old Hotel is located at 33 E. Larch St. in Othello. For more information or to register for a class, visit the gallery’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/theoldhotelothello or contact the Old Hotel at 509-488-5936 or by email at [email protected].
Classes at the Old Hotel
July 30: Dragon Eggs, 5:30 p.m., $12.
Aug. 3: Paint & Sip (BYOB): 7 p.m., $30.
Aug. 5: Squirt Gun and Bubble Painting, 11 a.m., $10.
Aug. 9: Air Plant Terrarium (BYOB) 6:30 p.m.
Aug. 10: Stepping Stones, 11 1.m., $15.
Aug. 12: Butterfly/Dragonfly Suncatcher, 11 a.m., $8.
Sparkly dragon eggs can be made at the Old Hotel Art Gallery on July 30.
Painting with soap bubbles will be the subject of an art class Aug. 5 at the Old Hotel Art Gallery in Othello.
Students can make a terrarium filled with otherworldly-looking air plants at the Old Hotel and Gallery on Aug. 9.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Quincy National Night Out scales down
QUINCY — Quincy’s National Night Out was more compact this year, which worked out well, said QPD Sgt. Joe Westby, who’s in charge of event planning for the Quincy Police Department. “National Night Out is a big event, and the fact that we’re able to shrink it up is like a breath of fresh air,” Westby said. “If you're always doing the same thing, it's kind of nice to switch things up and see how it works.” National Night Out took place Thursday on the block of C Street next to the police station, a shift from previous years when it was held at Lauzier Park. The smaller space meant fewer emergency vehicles for children to explore, but it also meant less walking for attendees. Grant County Fire District 5 brought a fire truck, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office had a patrol boat. Renew, the Grant County behavioral health agency, had a booth and so did Quincy Partnership for Youth. Veterans Operation Creation sang the national anthem, and the Quincy Animal Shelter brought kittens that piled over each other making friends with passersby. As before, the QPD served grilled hot dogs.
Quincy Police retirements leave big shoes to fill
QUINCY — There are some big shoes to fill at the Quincy Police Department. “We’re losing 48 years of experience between them,” Quincy Police Chief Ryan Green said at the retirement party for Capt. Jorge Trujillo and Det. Damon Powell Thursday. Trujillo, who grew up in Sunnyside, has been with QPD for 19 years, he said, coming on as a patrol officer fresh out of the military. From there he served as a field training officer, a detective and finally captain. “I consider him my left-hand man,” Green said. “He runs the operations side of the house … He knows the agency very well, and he knows the community.” Trujillo has some projects around the house to tackle now that he’s retired, he said.
Big fun on a small scale
Wheat Land Communities’ Fair opens Thursday
RITZVILLE — The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair isn’t as big or as flashy as some of the county fairs around central Washington, but the folks who keep it going like it just the way it is. “It’s somewhere you can go and get an old-time traditional feeling, and you’re comfortable letting your kids roam the grounds and experience all that it has to offer,” said Board Member Lori Williams. “It’s more of a feeling than (one) specific thing,” The fair starts Thursday in Ritzville and runs through Sunday. Starting Friday, the 56th Ritzville Rodeo will take place alongside the fair at the rodeo grounds. This year the entertainment budget was expanded, Williams said, to be able to offer more fun that’s covered by the cost of admission. For the kids, there’s face painting, balloon art, Lego crafts, races, contests and games. Children can also ride on a little train towed around the fairgrounds behind a tractor.