For many nonprofits, the return to a steady post-pandemic pace has varied, at times slow and steady, and at other moments, more like a big bang.
Spark Central, the nonprofit creative learning hub in Kendall Yards, has definitely felt this up-and-down pace since Washington state's COVID lockdown rules ended in mid-2021, says Margaret Starry, its donor and event coordinator.
More than a year later, though, Spark's team has a better feel for what a post-pandemic world looks like. As a result, Starry says, they've been reinventing public programs for kids and adults, and reintegrating the organization back into the community that it serves and that supports its work.
"It's kind of like the hybrid work thing," Starry says. "We started taking our programs out into the community in a way that we're going to continue forever now. I think we're seeing that there's not just a need for us to be accessible in the station like we were before; there's a need for us to be responding to the community where they're at."
"One of the things we're doing after COVID is really trying to reconnect with the communities that made us what we are," she adds. "And there's two that are really key for us: One is the literary community, and another is the arts community.
One of Spark's next big moves is introducing a new space connected to its main hub, or "Station," as it's officially named, with a First Friday art show this month. The new space, called the "Studio," is adjacent to the Spark Station, where Prairie Dog Pet Mercantile was located before it moved to a larger space down the street earlier this year.
"We're looking for ways to fund capital costs to better outfit the space to accommodate both arts and music-based programming," Starry says. "We're going to be transforming the space to have an art mural on the wall, carpeting, soundproofing curtains and guitar mounts so that there's an open and accessible space."
For the evening reception, local artists Karli Ingersoll and Caleb Mannan are showcasing their paintings and prints, while Spark's staff share their vision for its future. Fifteen percent of art sales that night will support those efforts.
Spark's leadership team has long envisioned partaking in First Friday, downtown Spokane's monthly arts reception where businesses and galleries debut new collections of local artists' work.
"We'd been wanting to do a First Friday event, and we'd been wanting to highlight the space and its potential in some new way," Starry says. "And Karli and Caleb had been working on the concept of a partnership show for a while."
While the space at the corner of Summit Parkway and the Adams Alley parking lot entrance may have appeared mostly vacant since Prairie Dog vacated in February, Starry says Spark moved in shortly after and has already hosted several events there. She and Executive Director Brooke Matson also moved their desks in, and a storage area in the back is filled with supplies for Spark's programs.
"We're always running out of space here," Starry says. "Since we do so many [weekly] drop-in programs... it has sometimes limited our ability in the past to do other programming at the same time."
Building owner Greenstone Homes offered Spark a subsidized rate for the corner space. The company also allows Spark to occupy its main space rent-free, and Greenstone's owners, father-son duo Jim and Joe Frank, helped found the nonprofit.
"We see Spark Central as an organization that really opens up the field of view for many community youth, in terms of the question of 'What is possible for me?'" says Joe Frank, president and CEO of Greenstone.
"Everyone involved in Spark Central has a different story, but most, if not all of them, come with a narrow scope of what is possible, and Spark works to expand those possibilities," he says.
Spark Central was started in 2016 when two separate but closely related, young nonprofits merged: INK Art Space and Spark Center. INK was started in 2014 as a youth arts education program in downtown Spokane's east end, while Spark was envisioned shortly after by Greenstone and other community leaders to create an education center for the historically underserved West Central neighborhood.
Since then, Spark has become an increasingly busy hub for both kids and adults who attend its free and low-cost programming via weekly drop-in programs (sessions currently include drawing, writing, role-playing and virtual reality games, and Minecraft), public computer and internet access, a small library, and other events centered on creativity, education and equitable access. Spark's main aim is breaking down barriers so its users, mainly youth, can "go anywhere from here," as its motto states.
Over the past two years during the pandemic — and especially when Spark's physical hub wasn't able to safely host in-person programming — restructuring itself to safely access youth in West Central was vital, says Matson, its executive director.
When those kids couldn't get to Spark to attend Level Up, its free after-school programming, Spark staff took it directly to the schools, specifically Holmes and Audubon elementaries. The positive response from Level Up's participants is evidenced by a waiting list that keeps growing.
"We need more volunteers for that program, but it kicked off well," Matson says. "Now we're really looking at doing more events and family drop-ins and programs in our Station to revitalize that part of what we do, and the First Friday art show is part of that."
Next spring, Spark is also completely reenvisioning its main fundraiser event, Spark Salon, with a series of free, public events in the two months leading up to the April gala.
"We're expanding [the Salon] so that it's not just this thing that happens for one night that only high-level donors can come to," Starry says. "It's really saying to the community: 'You matter to us, no matter what your contribution here is.'" ♦
First Friday with Karli Ingersoll and Caleb Mannan • Fri, Nov. 4 from 5-8 pm • Free • All ages • Spark Central's The Studio • 1206 W. Summit Pkwy. • spark-central.org
