Arts & Culture

“We, the people of the state of Idaho, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and promote our common welfare do establish this Constitution…”

Expo Idaho is perhaps best known as the home of the Western Idaho Fair. County leaders are now asking citizens to participate in deciding how the site should be used.

When more than 2,000 firefighters start climbing 69 flights of stairs in Seattle on March 8, each one will have their own reasons why they race to the top of the Columbia Center. 

Story Story Night is celebrating a decade of sharing narratives and connecting with people, each month highlighting a different decade through themed stories. 

Yesterday would have been Abraham Lincoln’s 211th birthday. 

You know that feeling of being so hungry that your emotions get the best of you? 

'La Boheme' is returning to Opera Idaho this weekend for the seventh time. The story of bohemian life in the Latin quarter in Paris in the 1830s is also "about the death of innocence" according to tenor Peter Drackley. 

Something magical occurs when groups of people gather to explore the pages of a chosen novel or memoir.

Though fishing was long used just for sustenance, it has evolved into a sport celebrated around the world. 

Programs to get kids into coding have been popping up all over in the past several years. Idaho has been no different. 

Boise State Public Radio is launching our second season of Expressive Idaho in partnership with Idaho Commission on the Arts.

Culinary coach and chef Christina Murray has a long resume. She has a Culinary Health Education Certificate from Harvard Medical School and has been featured in Redbook Magazine.

The Rotary Club of Boise is gearing up for the Annual Firkin Frolic, a beer festival that raises money for a good cause.

Award-winning singer, songwriter and saxophonist Curtis Stigers is bringing his talent back home to Boise.

Jay Rasgorshek is a scientific illustrator and co-curator of the “Picturing Science in Illustration and Art” exhibit at Boise State University. 

Courtney Barnett first picked up the guitar when she was ten.

What was Boise like in the 1930s? 

Bluegrass music is making a comeback in Idaho. The Idaho Bluegrass Association has been around since the 1980s, but after membership waned, the group’s popularity has taken off in the past few years. Supported by new members and leadership, the group is putting on the first Idaho Bluegrass Winterfest this weekend in Boise. 

For the third year in a row, the McCall Winter Festival will host a dog sled race. But this isn’t just any race. Organized by people involved with the Iditarod, the Idaho Dog Sled Challenge is 300 miles long. And with more than 44,000 feet of elevation change on the course, mushers call this a 500 mile race packed into 300. 

Norma Pintar has been teaching traditional Mexican daance in the Treasure Valley for more than 20 years. In 2012, she received the Governor's Award in the Arts to help establish a Hispanic Cultural Center in Nampa. There she met Jayf Ebert, who started dancing with her when he was just five. Now, at 16, Ebert is learning the traditional dances of the state of Campeche, Mexico through the Idaho Commission on the Arts' Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program.

RadioLab explores big ideas every week on WNYC. The nationally-distributed public radio show disrupted both the public radio and podcast space and has inspired many producers in the world of audio storytelling. The show airs on Boise State Public Radio News at noon on Saturdays. 

Host Jad Abumrad has spent years perfecting his craft, and will share some of his experience in storytelling with an audience in Boise. He joined Idaho Matters ahead of his talk as featured speaker at The Cabin on Saturday, Feb. 1. 

The Bosnian-Herzegovinian Cultural Center of Idaho has been in Boise since 2000, when thousands of refugees came to the United States fleeing war and conflict. Some settled in the Treasure Valley. Since then, community members have been using traditional dance, music and food to share Bosnian culture with Idaho.

The fashion industry is about more than just clothes. It’s also about scandal, #MeToo moments, human trafficking and murder.

At least that’s what the new book “Fashion Jungle” is about. Co-author Rachel van Dyken is from Boise, and joins Idaho Matters to talk about her book, which is based on real events from her co-author and former supermodel Kathy Ireland’s life and career. 

Jordan Allred is a Boise tattoo artist who is known for her black and grey floral designs. Not long ago, she was contacted by producers of the hit TV reality show “Ink Master: Turf War” where top tattoo artists from around the country compete for a $100,000 prize.

She’s back in town after filming the 13th season of the show which premieres Jan. 7. Samantha Wright dropped by the “Born Weird Tattoo” shop to watch her work on one of her clients.

Hot springs were practically made for winter, which is why we're presenting this episode of our You Know The Place podcast. Join hosts Lacey and Joel on their trip up to Kirkham Hot Springs in Lowman and a quirky bar in Idaho City.