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People who think that Idaho has no real artistic culture are wrong, and the Prichard Art Gallery has proof.
The Boise Art Museum’s Idaho Triennial Exhibit, which opened Wednesday at the Prichard Gallery, celebrates contemporary art from 25 Idaho artists working in all forms of media.
“The variety and quality is outstanding,” said Prichard Art Gallery Director Roger Rowley.
Rowley said that, in many ways, the exhibit was more of a portrait of Amy Pence-Brown, associate curator for BAM, than it was of the artists.
For Rowley, the theme of Pence-Brown’s decisions for the exhibit is the most intriguing of all.
“It’s interesting to see what interests Amy,” Rowley said.
The Boise Art Museum selects a new guest judge for each Triennial Exhibit, with 2007’s being the first to be a member of the museum’s staff.
Pence-Brown was chosen to judge more than 1,200 pieces of art submitted by 249 artists living and working in Idaho.
The Triennial Exhibit began in 1935 as an annual invitational for Idaho artists.
In recent years, the format has changed to a once-every-three-years exhibit for contemporary artists in the state.
Hosting the Triennial Exhibit as it travels the state has become a tradition for the Prichard Art Gallery.
Since the gallery frequently hosts national and international exhibits, Rowley said he enjoyed the shift toward Idaho artists.
“It’s a good show to have come back,” Rowley said. “It’s more close to home.”
The pieces on tour represent more than 80 different works selected as part of BAM’s 2007 Idaho Triennial Exhibit, which was held at the Boise Art Museum from September to November.
Selecting an in-house judge was not the only thing different from previous years.
Pence-Brown, who had been hired at the BAM about five months prior to judging, suggested adding studio visits to the standard blind judging of artists’ submitted slides.
“It was a great move on our part,” Pence-Brown said.
Pence-Brown narrowed down the entries to 71 artists.
For five weeks, Pence-Brown traveled across the state to each artist’s studio, which she said was, in most cases, their home.
“It was nice to see them in both their working space and their living space,” she said.
On her trip, Pence-Brown said she discovered how rich and diverse art was in Idaho.
“What emerged was an eclectic and innovative group of artists,” she said, “exposing the promise, quality and energy of the contemporary Idaho art scene.”
Upon entering the gallery, viewers are greeted with Moscow resident Marilyn Lysohir’s “Good Girls, Sharon, Pennsylvania,” a piece consisting of more than 50 sculpted portrait busts of young women who graduated from high school with Lysohir.
Rowley, who organized the layout of the exhibit, said he wanted to do more with the gallery entrance than just placing an exhibit title.
“We’re hitting the viewer with something,” Rowley said.
Other exhibit pieces represent a multitude of art forms.
Moscow artist Gerri Sayler’s piece, “Cellular Medley,” uses bamboo and unraveled rope and twine to create a naturally flowing sculpture that climbs the gallery walls.
Boise based Boise Cooperative Laboratory’s piece, a framed digital screen playing a streaming algorithm that reacts to physical presence, combines technology and art with mesmerizing results.
Pence-Brown said she found it interesting how completely different artists explored similar themes.
“Themes of memory, storytelling and the human body are among the most prevalent in the exhibit,” Pence-Brown said.
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