Got gallery fatigue? Want to scope out art in unusual settings? There are at least as many hidden spots to find artwork in the Wood River Valley as there are official galleries. Some venues are associated with galleries and others simply hang the work with prices on business cards attached.
Among the venues are restaurants and bars, coffee shops and stores, hair salons and churches. Not that it's recommended, but one way to check out some fun art is to have an accident or be ill. Hanging on the walls, back in the bowels of St. Luke's Wood River Medical Center, there is a collection of artwork most of the public will never see. Such artists as Will Caldwell, Mary Roberson, Debbie Edgers Sturges, Melissa Brown, Russell Chatham and Joseph Alvarez are represented. It does help when one is having a mammogram or x-ray to have something to look at while waiting, of course. This could be just the time to have that test you've been putting off.
Gallery DeNovo has a curious outlet in the hair salon Vertu, located at 713 Leadville Ave., in the Coho Building, on the southern edge of Ketchum.
"I really like Anette (Farnham)'s taste and she likes mine," DeNovo owner Robin Reiners said of the salon's owner. "It felt right to do. I'd been asked by other people (to hang art). It's not something I do lightly. I think that people have an opportunity to see it and enjoy it in the salon. I've gotten very good comments on the work being there and she loves it when I change it out."
Among the artists whose work Reiners now has hanging at Vertu are Sjer Jacobs from the Netherlands, photographer Davis Freeman and Gabriella Ibrarra.
"We're a hair salon but we want to be surrounded by art," Farnham said. "As we help people change, we want the environment to change, too."
Several paintings have been bought off the wall in the funky enclave of Vertu.
As well as hanging colorful artwork on in the salon, Farnham asked artist Karen Jacobsen to liven up the powder room with a graphic mural. It's become an ongoing work as clients add their own sayings and quotes to the graffiti.
Because of the heavy foot traffic, many coffee shops are using their walls to hang art, much of it by local artists.
As the name suggests, the Coffee Grinder & Gallery in Ketchum regularly exhibits art inside its cozy space. On Friday, Jan. 25, it will host a group show called Five Easy Pieces, which will include work by five valley-based photographers: Gina Poole, John Plummer, Greg Stahl, Mark Reitinger and Gordon Williams.
Other Ketchum coffee shops that hang art are Tully's, Java and Starbucks, which is currently displaying Terry Friedlander's mixed media, and oil paintings by Kathyrn McNeal.
In Hailey, Zaney's Coffee House regularly displays the work of Hailey-based photographers, such as Dev Khalsa, and the occasional piece by high school students. Currently there are fire photos on display taken by Nick Stelma.
Art can also be found in businesses such as Coldwell Banker and Conklin & Company, and in restaurants including Chandler's, Cristina's, Globus, CK's Real Food and Galena Lodge. In Hailey, Fresshies has a rotating exhibit with works by such valley-based artists as Marie Stewart, Bill Lennon, Eric Bateman and TJ Sundance. The Open Room in the Walnut Avenue Mall is displaying huge canvases by Heather Hanson in its open, bright space.
Churches also display art in parish halls and entryways. The Presbyterian Church of the Big Wood is currently exhibiting photographs taken by Lynn and Sharon Bockemohle on a recent trip to Africa. St. Thomas Episcopal Church has an art committee and Our Lady of the Snows also exhibits art in its new parish hall.
Hailey artist Melissa Brown has pieces in several locations besides her own Studio 311 in Hailey. She noted that the next Hailey Art Walk on Friday, Feb. 8, will find many exhibits going on in new studios, temporary locations and businesses. The concept has worked well for her. People have bought her paintings after having seen them hanging in odd venues. Three of her large-scale works will be hung in the new Rocky Mountain Hardware building in Hailey.
"I'm on a roll," she said. "I'm hoping I'm lucky enough to keep it going."
Also in Hailey, the Sun Valley Center for the Arts, at 314 S. Second Ave., always has an ongoing exhibit. Right now, as part of the Trabajo Mexicano/Mexican Work exhibit, there are small devotional images of saints and holy figures called retablos on display. A reception, with wine and appetizers, to meet artist Alma Gomez will be held tonight, Jan. 11, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at The Center.
In Bellevue, another hidden gem of a gallery is the Green Antelope Gallery, owned by Helen and Brooke Bonner. It's a great place to see good local artwork at affordable prices. As well, there are exquisite jewelry pieces also made locally.
So wherever your travels take you in the valley, be sure to look up and around to find local talent and surprising works by well-known artists. Sometimes what you're looking for is right in front of your nose.
The powder room at Vertu is painted in a graffitti-style mural by Karen Jacobsen. Photo by Dana DuGan
