A Letter From the Executive Director
August 2026
Spokane, Washington
The 2026 Spokane Washington fires were national news and a tragedy.
I was not affected personally until my last day of art class at the Corbin Art Center.
It was the first day that I could actually see the city from the second floor of the breathtaking
historic mansion near the South Hill from the smoke clearing. It was also the day I learned a
little boy went directly from my class all week to give the firefighters that saved his home his artwork.
Four days prior, in class one day, he told me an explanation of his creative expression that the fire was close
to his house and had cracked a window and that his trees were gone. It was so close and that
seemed scary, but he and his family, and beloved Stetson, their furry member family, were okay.
They were evacuated.
Friday, the last day of class at Corbin Art Center, his mom tells me “Your art class has changed
my son’s life and the life of so many others”. She told me she had never seen anything so
moving than a little boy handing 15 firefighters his artwork every day. They fought for 17 hours
with no break working on this family's house. In a neighborhood of 200 homes three homes
stood standing, and one of the homes was this family’s. That was all though. They lost their
fencing, trees, and lawn, and ash completely up to the melted siding and cracked windows of
the structure. After the home was saved, she said they started to gather and greet him after class when he
arrived with his art.
If you believe that one bright light can truly heal, this boy is an example.
The extraordinary investment into his work was staggering, he had nothing else to express his
gratitude. He had not been home for weeks and he had no connection except the gift of himself.
Every day there was this union of community and tears of gratitude with gifts of uniqueness. Art
builds the confidence of love without boundaries and problem solving tragedy into joy.
Art teaches children how to navigate uncertainty — something our world is offering in
abundance.
When a child learns to tell their story through Fine Arts, they are learning, applying, and sharing.
This is the gift of human uniqueness. The ability to learn something and apply it to life, this is the
foundation, the art of education.
The gift of yourself is truly the most authentic gift anyone can ever receive, no one can make the
way you see the world. But you can create the way the world sees you. Illuminate your path to
authenticity. When we protect arts in education, and creative freedom as adults, we are protecting the part of a human that stays standing in support — even when everything else falls.
Art provides tools that help us understand ourselves.
August 2026
Spokane, Washington
The 2026 Spokane Washington fires were national news and a tragedy.
I was not affected personally until my last day of art class at the Corbin Art Center.
It was the first day that I could actually see the city from the second floor of the breathtaking
historic mansion near the South Hill from the smoke clearing. It was also the day I learned a
little boy went directly from my class all week to give the firefighters that saved his home his artwork.
Four days prior, in class one day, he told me an explanation of his creative expression that the fire was close
to his house and had cracked a window and that his trees were gone. It was so close and that
seemed scary, but he and his family, and beloved Stetson, their furry member family, were okay.
They were evacuated.
Friday, the last day of class at Corbin Art Center, his mom tells me “Your art class has changed
my son’s life and the life of so many others”. She told me she had never seen anything so
moving than a little boy handing 15 firefighters his artwork every day. They fought for 17 hours
with no break working on this family's house. In a neighborhood of 200 homes three homes
stood standing, and one of the homes was this family’s. That was all though. They lost their
fencing, trees, and lawn, and ash completely up to the melted siding and cracked windows of
the structure. After the home was saved, she said they started to gather and greet him after class when he
arrived with his art.
If you believe that one bright light can truly heal, this boy is an example.
The extraordinary investment into his work was staggering, he had nothing else to express his
gratitude. He had not been home for weeks and he had no connection except the gift of himself.
Every day there was this union of community and tears of gratitude with gifts of uniqueness. Art
builds the confidence of love without boundaries and problem solving tragedy into joy.
Art teaches children how to navigate uncertainty — something our world is offering in
abundance.
When a child learns to tell their story through Fine Arts, they are learning, applying, and sharing.
This is the gift of human uniqueness. The ability to learn something and apply it to life, this is the
foundation, the art of education.
The gift of yourself is truly the most authentic gift anyone can ever receive, no one can make the
way you see the world. But you can create the way the world sees you. Illuminate your path to
authenticity. When we protect arts in education, and creative freedom as adults, we are protecting the part of a human that stays standing in support — even when everything else falls.
Art provides tools that help us understand ourselves.
