Arts + Culture

Pottery and porcelain expert David Rago says two things are certain when he sees someone pull out a dinner plate.

“I’m going to tell them it’s worth $3 and they’re going to be unhappy.”

That’s why, Rago says, appraising plates is the worst part of his 'Antiques Roadshow' gig. And he says he has to do it a lot. He’s been traveling with the popular PBS show for 18 years. Thousands of people bring antiques to Roadshow tapings, but only a few get to go on air to talk about their family treasures.

When a developer decided to build a new tower in downtown Boise, it was big news. It was especially newsworthy because of its location: the corner of 8th and Main streets. That spot had been empty for more than 20 years, earning it the nickname 'The Hole.'

So when word broke that Zions Bank would build its new Idaho headquarters there, Idaho Statesman photographer Darin Oswald decided to set out on an ambitious project. He wanted to document the building’s construction through time-lapse photography. 

Boise's dance world was rocked Monday.

After six years in Boise, the nationally-acclaimed Trey McIntyre Project (TMP) will disband it's full-time dance troupe in July.

Choreographer and artistic director Trey McIntyre will remain in Boise but his focus will shift to include other creative pursuits, like film and photography. Here's more from Monday's press release:

April and Andy Davis don’t have many antiques. The couple doesn’t have much money to spend on collecting and they do have a 2-year-old, Hudson, who will pull down anything not nailed to the wall. But April Davis has been watching PBS' 'Antiques Roadshow' since she was a kid.

The popular public television show travels the country to appraise antiques people bring to the event. Some of the antiques, and their owners, end up on the program talking about their treasures and the stories behind them.

A year ago, Dylan Cline hosted a dinner party. On the TV was a documentary about New York's famous New Year's Eve ball drop. It gave Cline an idea: What about lowering a giant potato over Boise’s downtown next New Year's? 

His guests laughed at him.

“They were like, 'that’s a fun idea but if it could be done, it would have been done.' So, I took that as a challenge.”

Boise Contemporary Theater’s Artistic Director Matthew Cameron Clark and Education Director Dwayne Blackaller sit at separate computer screens in a basement office. A passing eavesdropper would find their conversation impossible to follow because it’s part spoken, part typed and all about a fictional world evolving somewhere between their two brains and two keyboards.

Boise playwrights Matthew Cameron Clark and Dwayne Blackaller have a little more than three months to curtain on their latest work-in-progress.  The Uncanny Valley, mixes science fiction with Idaho's landscape.

Co-writer Blackaller says most people will likely think the title refers to where it takes place, a valley in Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains. But it’s actually a reference to the themes in the play, not the setting.

You can listen to Blackaller explain what the title means by clicking on the audio player.

Boise Contemporary Theater (BCT) has earned respect producing works by nationally-known playwrights. The company is also demonstrating it can create strong original work in-house.

Early in 2013, BCT debuted A Nighttime Survival Guide. It was written by Artistic Director Matthew Cameron Clark and Education Director Dwayne Blackaller, and it was a hit for the theater.

Boise Contemporary Theater (BCT) is selling tickets for a play that opens in April, but that play hasn’t yet been written. For the next few months, I’ll be following its progress as it goes from idea to rehearsal to an audience.

Many churches view feeding the poor as an important responsibility. But none go about it quite like the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Across the country, the LDS church has farms, orchards and ranches. And the crops go to church-owned food processing facilities. Six of these facilities handle perishable food like meat and fruit, including this cannery in Garden City, Idaho.  

To make a ballet, choreographer and artistic director Trey McIntyre needs fresh musical inspiration. For this, he turns to Boise musician Kelsey Swope – whose stage name is Grandma Kelsey.

A new movie tells the story of two Mormon missionaries who were kidnapped and held for ransom in Saratov, Russia in 1998. 'The Saratov Approach' details what Andrew Propst and Travis Tuttle went through.

The film opened in theaters throughout the West this fall. Because of it’s success, managers at Boise’s Edwards 22 Theaters have extended the movie’s run until at least December 12.

Updated Jan. 10, 2:20 p.m.

The Knitting Factory is sad to report that Lil’ Bub won’t make it to the Boise festival. However, there will be a special appearance by Keyboard Cat and his owner Charlie Schmidt.

The national project that records and archives oral histories has released a new book detailing stories of gratitude and inspiration, including one story from Idaho you may remember.

StoryCorps is in its tenth year and its latest collection of stories is called “Ties That Bind: Stories of Love and Gratitude from the First Ten Years of StoryCorps.” 

David Isay founded the StoryCorps project, and says this book is different from past books.

You’ll find menorahs all over Dorothy Geffon’s immaculate Boise home. These candelabras are the symbol of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Each night of the eight-day festival, Jews light one candle or oil-light. Some of Geffon’s menorahs are traditional. Others…not so much.

Take the wind-up one that hops around on little plastic legs. “This I have for the little kids,” she says. “It’s fun for the youngest grandchildren.”

The best of this year’s Sun Valley Film Festival (SVFF) screens in Boise Saturday night. The Best of SVFFest will feature two award-winning films; STUCK, about a one-night stand, and Craters of the Moon, which is about a couple who gets lost and stranded in the snow.

Here's the trailer from Craters.