by Luke Eldredge

Sculptures next to paintings, poetry readings next to short films, photography next to graffiti, all accompanied by the sound of live musical artists. Terrain 5 continued its growing legacy as an art smorgasbord in downtown Spokane on Oct. 5.

Terrain, a one night only annual art show that began in 2008, showcases local artists in an attempt to link them with Spokane’s art establishment, putting industry professionals and upcoming artists in the same room. Since it began, Terrain has introduced more than 120 local artists to more than 14,000 art enthusiasts, according to Terrain’s website.

Terrain works in collaboration with the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, the Pacific Northwest Inlander and the Garland Theater. Terrain 5 was voted the third best art organization by the Inlander.

The event holds a vast variety of multimedia art, each one selected by a jury made up of members of the local art circle, according to Terrain’s website. This year, Terrain boasted 13  musical artists, including the Terrible Buttons, Ocnotes and Velella Velella.

The show incorporated three floors of works, ranging from oil pastels to installation pieces made of old circuit boards and unrecognizable pieces of scrap.

“I thought it was really neat how you could go to both extremes of very different art,” Spokane Community College student Naslund Rush said. “It was interesting how they separated genres by floors and rooms.”

Each floor’s walls were lined with pieces from different artists, each one utilizing very different art techniques. The music of local bands wafted through the rooms and halls of the Music City Building. Brick walls, naked beams and colored lighting accented the artwork. All this came together to produce a setting unique to Terrain, a setting that spoke to the Spokane art scene.

Terrain 5 also included the “Literary Park,” a section of floor covered in real grass and a small stage, with usable swings and a hammock hanging from the rafters. Several local poets, including Whitworth students, shared their work to the crowd of people lounging on the grass and swings.

Whitworth senior August Sheets shared several of his works.

”It was exciting and nerve racking, but it’s a very chill environment,” Sheets said.

The crowd at Terrain 5 is just as colorful and diverse as the artwork, with no admission fee and no semblance of the subdued atmosphere typical of an art show.

“It’s a lot more urban that I was expecting,” art enthusiast and Terrain first timer Chad Shayotovich said. “The art sort of has that antagonized adolescent feel.”

The eclectic pounding of the variety of art could, at times, be overwhelming, but the crowd fed off this energy, creating an atmosphere unlike other art exhibits.

“There is so much good artwork, and with a crowd like this, I hope it keeps on,” Sheets said.

Contact Luke Eldredge at [email protected].