Corbin Art Center

Corbin Art Center Programs

For over fifty years the Center has been providing affordable, quality fine arts and crafts programs for children and adults. Our programs are developed to foster cognitive, creative and personal growth, and classes are small so participants receive maximum attention from the instructor.

Landscape & Garden Series

Planning to design your own landscape or interested in growing your own vegetables? The Corbin Art Center hosts a series of courses and workshops to help you design planting beds and learn about growing roses, drought tolerant plants, water-wise landscapes, and more.
 
 

Adult Fine Art Classes & Workshops

Fine art offerings include drawing, painting, creative writing, art history, fiber, gardening and landscape, and photography. Our programs are designed to give participants the opportunity to explore a new medium, expand your creative repertoire, or experience something new.

 

Adult One & Two Day Workshops

Try your hand at something new! A variety of workshops will teach you the skills you need to make your own crafts including candles, crochet rugs, jewelry, and soaps.

For those who want to learn the fine art of cooking, baking, and international cuisine, our fine living programs can teach you to make Italian entrees, bakery goods, soups/stews, breads, and more.

 

Corbin Kids for Youth & Preschool

The Art Center hosts classes, workshops, and camps for ages 2, 3 to 5, 6 to 11, and 9 to 13 year olds.

Children are encouraged to try new things in an imaginative atmosphere where they can express themselves and enjoy the process of creating. Our programs include creating art, drawing, painting, mixed media, Mom & Me, and a variety of holiday-themed, and craft one-day workshops. Your children will have so much fun, they won’t want to stop!
 

Corbin Kids Art Party Program

Plan a party and make it unique! We make it easy and fun to plan Art Projects, Scavenger Hunts, or for your child to become a Princess, Prince, Pirate or Pixie. There are lots of themes to choose from or you can plan your own for your child and his or her friends to enjoy.

 

Corbin Kids No School Today Camps

For children ages 6 - 11, our camps are  held when Spokane Public Schools are not in session. Pre-registration is required. Camps are held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a supervised lunch. Please send a lunch and beverage with your child. The Art Center also hosts an eleven week Fine Arts and Crafts Summer Camp and Workshop Program for children ages 3 - 11. Programs include fine art, crafts, history, science, theater, adventure, and more. One day, hourly, and weekly camps and workshops are available. The summer program begins June 4 and runs through August 17, 2012.

 

We encourage children to explore art materials and enjoy what happens. Children will be working with paints, glue, and much more so plan to dress for a mess or bring a work shirt.
 

ABOUT CORBIN ART CENTER

The Corbin Art Center supports the cultural arts throughout the Northwest. Originally operated by Washington State University as the Spokane Art Center from 1952 until 1963, the program became the Corbin House Arts and Crafts Center until early 1970 when it was renamed the Corbin Art Center. The Center has been offering affordable, high-quality cultural arts education in a creative environment for over fifty years.

Corbin Art Center is housed in the historic D.C. Corbin House located in the Marycliff-Cliff Park Historic District, an area rich in early-Spokane history and architecture. In the Colonial Revival architectural style, the house was designed for Daniel Chase Corbin by his former son-in-law Kirtland Cutter and completed in 1898. A significant historic landmark for its affiliation with the original owner and prominent architect, the house was placed on the Spokane Register of Historic Places in 1997 and the Washington Heritage Register and National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

Mr. Corbin was a pioneer in transportation and other successful business ventures in the Inland Northwest. He realized the need for transportation and built feeder railways to the Bunker Hill and Sullivan mines and Weyerhauser pine forests in Idaho, British Columbia’s Kootenay and Rossland copper-gold mines, and the Fernie coal mines. Corbin’s railroads were pivotal in establishing Spokane’s position as a railroad center in the Inland Northwest at the turn of the 20th Century.

Renovation projects to refurbish the building began in 1994. The projects included revealing doors, refurbishing hardwood floors, refurbishing and repairing woodwork, restoring the second floor exterior balcony, replacing and repairing electrical wiring and lighting, cleaning and repairing exterior masonry, restoring and repairing the wraparound veranda, and restoring light fixtures, the parlor, dining room, foyer, and vestibule.

The original Corbin grounds, adjacent to the home, included an elaborate basalt children’s castle-like overlook, pathways, footbridges, and a rose garden. Based on historic photographs and recovered site plans, the grounds were restored in 2003.

The City of Spokane Parks and Recreation Department, the Comstock Foundation, the Corbin Art Center Association, the Foseen Foundation, the Johnston-Fix Foundation, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, WAMPUM, the Washington State Building for the Arts Program, the Washington State Historical Society Capital Projects Fund, and Washington Trust Bank have demonstrated a strong commitment to the building and grounds. Maintaining and enhancing the site provides for year-round cultural programs and services in the Spokane community and the Northwest region.

Edwidge Woldson Park

Formerly Pioneer Park, the Park was renamed in 2010 to honor Edwidge Woldson for her contributions to the community. Formed in 1945 when the Spokane Park Board purchased the D.C. Corbin property to the east and the former Frank Rockwood Moore and U.S. Senator George Turner property to the west, the Park was over thirteen acres.

The purchase included the D.C. Corbin home and grounds and the untended Moore-Turner garden; the Moore-Turner home was demolished in 1940 prior to the Spokane Park Board acquisition. In the early 1960’s the northern portion of the park was altered to construct the Stevens Street extension. Now ten acres, the Park is situated in the Marycliff/Cliff Park National Register Historic District.

Corbin Art Center Rental Program

Situated on Seventh Avenue in the Marycliff/Cliff Park National Register Historic District, the historic D.C. Corbin House is listed on the local, state, and national Historic Registers. The House and its Grounds are east of the Moore-Turner Heritage Gardens in Edwidge Woldson Park.

The first floor features a vestibule, foyer, the original formal and informal parlors and dining room, an ornate staircase to the second floor, and a kitchen. The exterior features an impressive 3/4 wrap-around veranda with panoramic views of Spokane.
The Corbin Art Center is available to rent for:
• Meetings
• Receptions
• Special Events
Rentals are scheduled on a first come, first serve basis. The facility is wheelchair accessible with a designated wheelchair parking area. For more information on our program and fees please contact the Corbin Art Center, 509.625.6677.

Become a Friend of the Moore-Turner Heritage Gardens

The Friends organized to support the Moore-Turner Heritage Gardens and the D. C. Corbin House and Grounds. Their mission is to promote awareness, appreciation, and understanding of art and culture in their various forms; provide educational opportunities; organize activities focused on this unique site that serve to promote awareness and understanding of historic preservation and Spokane’s heritage; and conduct fundraising to support these activities and facilities. The Friends is organized exclusively for educational purposes within the meaning of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

For more information call 509.448.9335 or write the Friends of the Moore-Turner Heritage Gardens at P.O. Box 133, Spokane, WA 99210.

Directions to the Corbin Art Center:

Heading south on Stevens Street from downtown Spokane,
Turn right on to Seventh Avenue,
Travel one block,
Turn left at the first driveway entrance at the end of Edwidge Woldson Park.
The Corbin Art Center is located at the end of the lane to the left.