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Garden City ‘First Friday’ Event Launches As Arts District Grows

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Surel's Place
Venues marked on this map are participating in the second-ever Garden City "First Friday" event.

Boise’s First Thursday is a well-known event in the Treasure Valley. Focused mostly on the visual arts – with music, theater and dance playing a role as well – it’s become a staple of the downtown scene each month.

And just next door, Garden City is getting in on the action with a new “First Friday” event. Jodi Eichelberger is with Surel’s Place – an artist-in-residency space named for painter Surel Mitchell. Eichelberger is helping organize the festivities, and says the new First Friday event is a natural extension of their mission.

"Really this was Surel Mitchell’s dream to have this area be an arts district," he says. "And she was involved with the planning and zoning of Garden City to actually formally create a live-work-create district.”

Friday’s event is the second one hosted in Garden City, with more than 50 artists and 20 venues participating. Eichelberger says it’s technically an every-other-first-Friday event, coinciding with the latest opening at the Visual Arts Collective – a long-running venue in the small but growing arts district.

New this month is a free shuttle that departs from the Riverside Hotel and makes stops at galleries and studios along the way. The shuttle runs from 6-8 p.m. while the venues are open 5:30-8:30 p.m. Click herefor more information.

Find reporter Frankie Barnhill on Twitter @FABarnhill

Copyright 2017 Boise State Public Radio

Frankie Barnhill was the Senior Producer of Idaho Matters, Boise State Public Radio's daily show and podcast.

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