STAFF PIC
boisephilharmonic.org
Boise Philharmonic Music Director Robert Franz just can’t commit, at least when it comes to staging rendezvous with other major arts organizations in town. During the 2009-2010 season, Boise Philharmonic collaborated with the likes of Opera Idaho, Ballet Idaho, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Boise Master Chorale, Boise State Chorus and Boise State Orchestra. And there’s even more collaboration planned for the next season. Talk about poly.
BEST GRAY BE GONE
BOISE MURAL ART PROJECT 280 N. Eighth St.
One day Buddy Van Buren was in the parking garage of the Idaho Building and thought that it could use a little brightening up. So he made some calls. The idea quickly snowballed and one mural turned into two floors of murals. And that’s how more than 50 local artists clustered into the garage, turning a gray blight into a giant public art display. From the humble idea, a landmark was created and community spirit thrived. Someone paint this man a giant gold star.
BEST WAY TO ANTE UP FOR ARTS
BCT MEETS KICKSTARTER
854 Fulton St., 208-331-9224, bctheater.org If you can’t be an artist, be an arts supporter. Boise Contemporar y Theater embraced this idea when it created a Kickstarter campaign to finance a new production, The Krumblin Foundation, for its 2010-2011 season. Patrons were asked to give what they could so an additional play could be seen by all. We can’t argue with the results: more theater in Boise.
WWW. B OISEWEEKLY.C O M
NT
K
BOISE LAWN PHILHARMONIC CHAIRS AT HOOKING UP CONCERTS WITH EVERY MAJOR ARTS ORGANIZATION IN TOWN
EN TERTAINME
&
BEST “DOWN IN FRONT”
A RTS
BEST OPEN ARTS RELATIONSHIP
Few outdoor venues offer a natural bowl shape for watching a concert. That means that the people in back—who paid just as much to be there but couldn’t get out of the house as quickly as the people closer to the front—can only see if everybody is sitting at the same level. That means that if you bring a standard sized beach chair to sit in, two things become apparent: 1. You are clearly more important than everyone else at the show. 2. You’re lucky you got anyone to go to the concert with you. Sadly, it was someone who also thinks a 3-foot-high back is perfectly acceptable in the middle of general seating.
BEST DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!
ROBOTS AT BAM 670 Julia Davis Drive, 208-345-8330, boiseartmuseum.org
Since early in the 20th centur y, we have looked at the robot as a symbol of the future. Earlier this year, Boise Art Museum presented “Robots: Evolution of a Cultural Icon” examining artists’ interpretations of how humans feel about their metal counterparts. Ever ything from drawing to painting to 3D sculpture filled the museum’s vaulted halls and made us examine our relationship with a technology we created in our own image.
BEST NAMED EVENT HONORING ITS LOCATION
OUTLAW CONCERT SERIES 2355 Old Penitentiary Road, 208-343-8649, idahobotanicalgarden.org
Michael Franti, Barenaked Ladies, Jewel, Jackson Brown, Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan performing outdoors among thousands of bushes, grasses, flowers and trees with the Old Idaho Penitentiary as a backdrop. Hell, yes.
BOISEweekly | SEPTEMBER 22–28, 2010 | BEST OF BOISE: STAFF PICKS | 19