Boise is home to a burgeoning artistic scene. Artists from different genres are collaborating in interesting and sometimes challenging ways, pushing Boiseans to new understandings of art. With the shadow of the Great Recession still hanging over them, a group of emerging artists have decided to make Boise their springboard – potentially changing the city’s cultural landscape forever.
Every Friday for the next five weeks, we’ll bring you profiles of artists who represent different parts of Boise’s emerging artistic community. We’ll be your guide with behind-the-scenes photos, video and more. You can get caught up on the reporter’s work on this series so far.
But first, meet the artists:
Name: Anne McDonald
Art form: Burlesque dance
Anne McDonald fell in love with burlesque almost ten years ago. A few years later, she formed The Red Light Variety Show and has been pushing the envelope with her dance and performance art ever since.
Anne – whose stage name is Frankly Frankie – leads the Frankly Burlesque show every Sunday in downtown Boise.
Anne’s headed to NYC for some special cabaret training this summer, where she hopes to book a couple of shows before returning to Boise.
Name: Jake Fullilove
Art form: Film
Filmmaker Jake Fullilove is full of ambition. At 21-years-old he’s already started his own film equipment rental company, and is in post-production for his first short film.
"Spring Garden" is a psychological thriller filmed in Boise last summer; Jake says it was his most challenging (and exciting) creative project yet.
Jake wants to help put Idaho – and Boise specifically – on the filmmaking map.
Name: Danny Kerr
Art form: Music
Musician Danny Kerr is an in-demand guy. He composes music and does sound design for film projects, plays bass in a young rock n’ roll band, regularly packs the dance floor when he DJ’s at the Neurolux, and runs the sound for touring and local bands playing at The Crux.
He’s also been sitting on his second solo album for months, making sure it’s perfect before releasing it to hungry Brother Dan fans.
Name: Cody Rutty
Art form: Painting
Cody Rutty made painting his fulltime job a couple of years ago. Since then, he’s sold work to people from all 50 states and more than 20 different countries.
Cody studied architecture at the University of Idaho before deciding to follow his childhood dream of being an artist, but the drafting board still influences his work.
He’s been an Artist In Residence through the city’s Arts and History Department, and has an upcoming solo show at State and Lemp this June.
Name: Heidi Kraay
Art form: Theater
Heidi Kraay is one busy playwright. The 30-year-old’s latest play is called “DIRT,” and it runs through May 31 in Boise.
Heidi is also a Theater Lab teacher, helping teens learn how to write, produce and perform their own plays at Boise Contemporary Theater.
This summer she’s participating in the renownedSeven Devils Playwrights Conference in McCall, and she was recently accepted to a MFA program at the California Institute of Integral Studies.
This series was made possible by a grant from the Boise City Department of Arts and History.
Copyright 2014 Boise State Public Radio
