Category — Building Community

It’s 7 a.m. on a Saturday morning. Most Southwest Washington residents are snoozing. Not so for Sam, Buddy and Jesse. Ditto for Pink and Gidget. The Ross Off-Leash Dog Recreation Area in Vancouver is animated with wide-awake canines and, of course, their owners.

The 8-acre park is managed by DOGPAW, the Dog Owners Group for Park Access in Washington. The group’s Mission is “to work with dog owners and the community at large to promote awareness and acceptance and to increase the availability for safe off leash areas for dogs in Clark County.” Located on BPA Complex grounds at NE Ross St and NE 15th Ave, the park offers a large, hilly off leash area with walking trail and collection of benches, plus an adjacent park for smaller dogs.

The owners may be walking the dogs, but the dogs are exercising their masters, too. Many a dog owner has gotten in shape following his or her hound up and down the hilly park. Some walk the 3/4 mile loop multiple times for a human workout.

So who is out there?

Bruce and Sam

Sam

Don and Pink

Pink

Buddies

7:30 a.m. - Surrounded by dogs

Pink and Gidget, who longingly looks out from the small dog area

Where are the sheep?

Hanging out in the flowers

Kings and queen of the bark dust hill

Buddy of Buddy and Bosco

Bosco looking for friends

Love in the dog park: Bosco finds Sparky

8 a.m. - More canines and companions hit the trail

Pure joy...

“The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue.” (author unknown)

Enough said.

What would you suggest if asked how to reuse a 100+-year-old military hospital? The Fort Vancouver National Trust is asking that question about the Post Hospital.

But wait! The question gets even richer. Input is sought on how to reuse the hospital as an arts education center and visual arts museum.

The Post Hospital opened in 1905. It served more than 20,500 victims of the 1918 Spanish Influenza pandemic. More recently, it housed Army offices. It has been vacant since the mid-1990s. The building is owned by the City of Vancouver but is leased by the Trust.

On Tuesday, February 15, artists and other community members are invited to join a Community Conversation about the future use of the hospital. This important meeting will be held at Pearson Air Museum from 6 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. What a great opportunity help shape the future of this landmark building.

Imagine. What would you do with these spaces?

Post Hospital from the SE Corner

West side of the hospital next to I-5

One of the larger rooms

Lots of hallway and small rooms

A vintage ladies room

A view of a few Fort buildings from the hospital

A view to the west of the new Vancouver Community Library

Fir tongue-and-groove floors plus fireplace

Welcome to the past. What will the next sign say?

This is a building that will obviously need much work. But what an opportunity! Officers Row was saved. The Red Cross Building and O.O. Howard House were restored. It’s time to preserve our historical architecture again. To RSVP for the Community Conversation, contact the Trust at 360-992-1804.

From caves to churches, public building interiors to downtown walls, murals have made social and political statements throughout the ages. Michaelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, Diego Rivera and José Orozco, Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton, all shared their art through public murals. The list of muralists is long. So how do these esteemed artists connect to Southwest Washington?

In the tradition of these painters, Daybreak Youth Services volunteers created a massive outdoor mural in downtown Vancouver in 2008. “A group of us sat in the shade of the wall one Saturday morning in 2008 and talked about addiction and recovery,” says Donna Wiench, Daybreak Youth Services Development Director. “We discussed the darkness, the constant dissatisfaction and restlessness of addiction and how recovery is like coming into the light and peace.” The teens started drawing and art teacher Heather Fukuchi “put the images together to illustrate the story of going from darkness to light, with the help of community, responsibility, family and love.”

The theme, From Addition to Freedom, depicted the struggles of addiction, along with words like “pain,” “crime” and “hate” and then colorfully morphed into a rainbow and sun, along with words like “responsibility,” “recovery” and “love.” It was a massive act of creativity, which involved more than 30 staff, volunteers, youth ranging from grade school through high school, and teens in recovery.

Imagine how they felt when, even after “offending words” were removed, a building owner completely painted over the mural in the middle of a summer night in 2009. Personally, I was extremely offended by that act, as were many, many other community members.

The good news? The mural lives!

Bookmark © Daybreak Youth Services. Reproduced with permission.

The message of the mural has made the transition from a half-block wide downtown wall to a 3” x 8” bookmark. “Where are you in the mural?” it asks. It’s a fine reminder about the road from addiction to recovery, the drug and alcohol treatment provided to more than 1,100 teens annually by Daybreak Youth Services in Vancouver and Spokane, and power of words, art and paint on the side of a downtown wall. Welcome back, Daybreak mural and thank you, artists!

For more information:
Where to find the bookmark:
Fort Vancouver Regional Library branches, Vintage Books, the law firms of Scott Horenstein (900 Washington #1020) and Miller Nash (500 E. Broadway, #400), among other locations.

Mural Information: Daybreak Mural

Clark County Mural Information: Clark County Mural Society

Breven Angaelica Warren is the founder and producer of the Columbia Gorge International Film Festival. Formerly known as the Washougal Film Festival, the newly-named event will move to the downtown Vancouver Hilton and Convention Center this month. It will open on Wednesday, August 18 and close on Sunday night, August 22.

Breven Angaelica Warren, Producer, Columbia Gorge International Film Festival

The opening night starts with a reception followed by a screening of Earthwork, directed by Chris Ordal. In addition a film designed to be projected onto ice will be shown – on ice, with music.

Films will be shown throughout the day and evening on Thursday, Friday and during the day on Saturday – in four different theaters at the Convention Center. An awards ceremony will be held on Saturday night and prize-winning films will be re-screened on Sunday.

A filmmaker and producer who also works at other festivals like Sundance, Breven has scheduled more than 300 films, ranging in length from 1 minute to 2.5 hours. Numerous filmmakers are coming to Vancouver for the event. Admission to view the films is free! Trailers for some of the films are available at Trailer Addict . The complete film list is posted here.

What brought you to SW Washington?

My mother graduated from Washougal and my dad graduated from Camas so I was made here. They had me in Florida and I grew up in Florida and Jamaica. My family moved back here quite a few years ago and I came here to help them with what they were doing and I am a filmmaker so I brought my film projects with me.

I was living in Washougal and the community was so amazingly supportive of my filmmaking. A lot of times I would get the question, “Where can we see your films?” Unless you were on the film festival circuit I don’t know where you would see them. So I had the idea of starting a festival to share with the community what they were helping me make and to bring independent film to the community.

That is how I started the festival in 2008, largely to give back to the community as well as to offer another opportunity to filmmakers because the film circuit is very tricky to get into and it took me a long time to get my films on the festival circuit. In 2008 we screened over 300 films. Part of my mission is to have it free to everyone. It’s a terrible business model but I want to stick to that.

In 2009 we grew a little and had more films and more filmmakers come. We are in our third year and the Convention Center was available and we could have everything under one roof. So many filmmakers come in from out of town as well as out of country and we can offer them all the amenities.

What is the best kept secret about SW Washington?

Is it a secret that we have the most amazing nature opportunities here? I’m obsessed with the gardening here.

If you didn’t live here, where would you live?

Somewhere where I can create. I am more interested in my community, the people around me, than the location.

What’s coming up that you are excited about?

Absolutely the Film Festival and getting to share so many amazing films with so many people. And especially the quality of filmmaking. We have amazing films from all over the world. We represent about 40 countries and really breathtaking storytelling, creative art films, great narratives and wonderful documentaries.

What would surprise people to know about you?

I started working in the industry as a child. Got my SAG card at age nine. Also, I make installations. I construct things. I like to make large pieces of art. I love glue and tape.

I love Downtown Vancouver. It’s the galleries, coffee houses and restaurants, the treasured, older buildings and rich history, the venerable Esther Short Park and Vancouver’s Farmer’s Market. But most of all — it’s the people.

“Meetcha’ Downtown” brings this home. Produced by Vancouver’s Downtown Association, this new video says much more than a long blog post on ZEST. Watch the video here . Enjoy! And Meetcha’ Downtown!

“Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to build a cathedral.” – Frank Lloyd Wright

When I was a kid, chickens lived in barnyards. I was in awe of my grandmother’s fearlessness as she entered her long, white hen house and reached under each angry hen to snatch her egg. Those beaks looked mighty scary to me.

Looking back, I can’t imagine what it was like to have the 150 Rhode Island Reds and White Leghorns, which she tended to every day. That is a LOT of eggs! Combine that with multiple crowing roosters and we’re talking serious (and noisy) poultry.

Pondering the age-old question: Which came first?

The Wall Street Journal reported about the urban chicken trend on July 8, article here. Now chickens enjoy city backyards and Vancouver is no exception. We love our chickens!

Roosters are forbidden in our city limits (thank you, City of Vancouver!) but hens are doing quite well. In fact, the chickens will be queens for the day on July 17 at the Coop du Jour Tour, which will allow us to look into their castles. A fundraiser for the Hough Foundation, the self-guided tour will feature chicken coops of various designs in Vancouver’s Uptown Village neighborhoods. The tour will be held from Noon to 4 pm.

I had the opportunity to preview one of the coops in June. “Coop” is WAY too weak of a word. This was nothing like my grandmother’s utilitarian hen house. The Mowats have created a stylish home for their brood in the Hough Neighborhood and will be part of the tour.

Much More than a 'Coop'

A Condo for Hens

My neighbors Caitlyn and Jerrad are inspiring new chicken owners. They have creatively transformed their daughter’s play structure into a handy coop, while preserving the swings, upper deck and slide for play. They will explain their architectural wonder during the tour. Frank Lloyd Wright would be proud.

Play Structure or Chicken Coop? It's Both!

Buy your tickets now for the Coop du Jour. They are available at Arnada Naturals and Mint Tea in advance (Only $10 per family) or on the day of the event. More info about the tour is here.

Grandma Moses reputedly said that if she hadn’t been a painter, she would have raised chickens. She would have enjoyed the Coop du Jour.