Stories

The Sun Valley Wellness Institute is pleased to announce that best-selling author and renowned brain scientist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor will be delivering the keynote presentation to kick off the 2012 Sun Valley Wellness Festival held over Memorial Day weekend, May 25-28 in Sun Valley, Idaho.  Her presentation will be held Friday evening, May 25, 6:00pm at the Sun Valley Resort.

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a Harvard-trained and published neuroanatomist, experienced a severe hemorrhage in the left hemisphere of her brain in 1996. On the afternoon of this rare form of stroke (AVM), she could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life. It took eight years for Dr. Taylor to successfully rebuild her brain - from the inside out. In response to the swelling and trauma of the stroke, which placed pressure on her dominant left hemisphere, the functions of her right hemisphere blossomed.  She is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir about her recovery from her stroke and the insights she gained... (more)

This Must be the Band is a Talking Heads Tribute Band; we only play Talking Heads music, and, if possible, 3 to 4 hours at a time.

Since forming in May 2007, TMBTB has been Burning Down The House throughout Chicago and the entire midwest. With a rapidly expanding repertoire from the Talking Heads’ catalog of countless hits, TMBTB highlights the best of the Talking Heads, equipped with our very own Bernie Worrell, Adrian Belew, Lynn Mabry, and Ednah Holt.

Check Them Out @ Whiskey Jacques Saturday, January 28th. Band Starts at 10PM. $5 Bucks at the Door.

http://www.thismustbetheband.com/

An amalgam of LA’s finest punk bands and seasoned
bluegrass musicians, Old Man Markley is creating music that defies boundaries.
Founded in 2007 in the sunny San Fernando Valley, OMM cut its teeth playing
countless jams of bluegrass standards and covers of distinctly un-bluegrass
songs done bluegrass style.  Soon, out of the chaos grew original material that
combined everything the band loved about all the different styles of music the
members grew up playing and writing. The band played its first official show in
2008 at a small bar called the Old Towne Pub in Pasadena. The show yielded a
capacity crowd and sold out of beer, and people literally danced on the bar.

    Now three years strong, the love for Old Man Markley continues to grow. The band’s debut album
“Guts ‘N Teeth,” was recorded by Joby Ford of L.A.’s punk champs The Bronx and
released in January 2011 on Fat Wreck Chords. OMM has had the honor of sharing
bills with such legendary acts as NOFX, Flogging Molly, Against Me!, Bad
Religion,... (more)

When he’s not dangling off a cliff or rappelling into an icy crevasse, photographer, author and visionary conservationist James Balog is busy traveling the globe with his urgent message about climate change.

Balog is the founder of the Extreme Ice Survey, the most wide-ranging photographic study of glaciers ever conducted. He will speak in Ketchum on Thursday, January 19, as part of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts Lecture Series and in conjunction with The Center’s current multidisciplinary project, Thin Ice: Journeys in Polar Regions.

“The Extreme Ice Survey is one of those projects that sounds impossible to pull off—27 time-lapse cameras at 18 glaciers in some of the most difficult to reach places on the planet,” says Britt Udesen, The Center’s Director of Education and Humanities. “And yet James Balog and his team accomplished it. His absolutely dazzling multimedia presentation is a perfect companion to the artwork on view in Thin Ice.”

Throughout his long career, Balog has pushed himself to take fresh approaches... (more)

Families are invited to explore the exhibition Due North: Images of Baffin Island and Inuit Art at The Center in Hailey on Saturday, January 21 from 3 to 5pm and make a small Arctic animal that they can take home.

The exhibition at The Center, Hailey, features photographs shot by Wood River Valley resident Ann Puchner on Baffin Island, in Canada’s northernmost reaches, plus a selection of prints and sculptures from local resident Page Klune’s exceptional collection of Inuit art.

The Inuit people who live in the Arctic and subarctic have traditionally carved animal figures from soapstone. Working with modeling clay rather than stone, Kim Stocking will help you shape your own polar bear, seal, whale, walrus, puffin or penguin (even though they live in the Southern Hemisphere, but they are a polar animal too cute to omit). 

The Center’s free Family Day projects are inspired by current gallery exhibitions. Many activities require adults to be hands-on helpers to their children. Drop in anytime... (more)

Initially too poor to buy instruments, the African group H’Sao rose to worldwide fame on the strength of its magnificent unaccompanied vocals and high-energy live performances.

H’Sao (say “ah-shhh-ow”) brings its unique African/Western music to the Sun Valley Opera House on Saturday, January 21, as part of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts Winter Performance Series.

“People are just going to love this group,” says Kristine Bretall, The Center’s Director of Marketing and Performing Arts. “Their a cappella songs are amazingly gorgeous, and when they add in keyboards, drums, guitar and bass they produce danceable music that’s a mixture of jazz, pop, gospel, soul and R&B, with strong African roots. I guarantee that they’ll have people up on their feet and likely dancing in the aisles!”

H’Sao got its start in Chad, a former French territory in Central Africa, when siblings Caleb, Mossbass, Taroum and Israel Rimtobaye began singing in the church where their father was pastor. Lacking the money to buy instruments, they... (more)

From the company that launched the careers of Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell, Gilda Radner, and Bill Murray comes the next generation of the comedy world’s best and brightest in an evening of hilarious sketch comedy and The Second City’s trademark improvisation.

These shows always sell out, so reserve your seats while you still can! Tickets are $35 for the main floor and $25 for balcony seating. The box office is located at the Liberty Theatre, 110 N. Main Street in Hailey, with weekday hours from 9:00am to 4:00pm. You may charge your tickets by phone during business hours at 208-578-9122, purchase online at companyoffools.org, or you may buy your tickets at the box office starting one hour prior to curtain if seats are still available.

Company of Fools' presentation... (more)

Friday December 30th I am having my Grand Opening for my new photography gallery. Scenics from all over Idaho, fly fishing images and classic images of the Western US will be for sale and on display. 

Located in Trail Creek Village - 200 South Main Street, Ketchum (across from where Chandler's restaurants used to be). The Gallery Walk is from 5-8 with some apps and beer.

Live music from two former Phools (The Damn Phools that is) Rico and Chewy, will be playin'  from 5:30 on, and it's gonna be an acoustic foot stompin' good time, so join us and kick off the last weekend of 2011 right!

See you at the gallery!

http://toddkaplanphotographics.com/

Four Winds Trading Company is featuring "Jewelry Artisan Lesley Martin", at their new location, 380 First Avenue North in Ketchum (the old Felix’s Restaurant building kitty corner from Perry’s)

Prior to changing her company name to Lesley Martin Designs, many people throughout the greater mountain region knew her work by Silver Pony Designs. Lesley found out another company back east was also using that name, so to eliminate any confusion via online marketing (now has her own website store), etc., she decided to change the name. 

Working with semi-precious stones and various forms of silver, Lesley handcrafts each piece into stunning gallery quality jewelry. Her latest creations make the ideal, one of a kind keepsake that will be cherished forever.

You can also view and purchase items online:  LesleyMartinDesigns.com

Other items featured at the Four Winds Trading Company include: Original Alpaca scarfs, wraps, sweaters, hats and gloves, art, pottery, table linens, vintage clothes, Pendelton, leather... (more)

That's right tonight Wednesday Dec. 21 at Whiskey Jacques, Local country legends  Up A Creek will be playing your favorite all time Christmas hits like "With or Without Yule", "Moves Like Santa", "Drop It Like It's Hot Chocolate", "Mary's Got A Son", or my personal fav "I Kissed an Elf; And I Liked It"...$5 at the door!  Cheapest Christmas gift in town!

Up a Creek is a Bellevue based shed bred group of fellas playing Southern Idaho Folk ‘n Roll. Featuring original song writing, the band can best describe their music as a mix of folk and rock…Acoustic guitars. Electric guitars. Whats the difference? Its all in the story.  These boys tell a lot of stories. Stories about lovers and losers, sinners and fools. Redemption always seeming to be just a bit out of reach.   So come on out and join their friends and families for some drinkin and strummin small town honky tonkin! Just a few black eyes and angry wives!

Check them out at www.upacreekmusic.com

Don't be a scrooge,... (more)

Join artist Anna McKee and glaciologist Peter Neff on Thursday, January 5, at the Sun Valley Center for the Arts for an informal brown-bag slideshow and talk about ice cores, art and ice bound landscapes.

The free, hour-long program starts at noon. No advance registration is required and attendees are invited to bring along a lunch.

In 2008, McKee began looking at ice core specimens, glaciers and ice sheets “to explore metaphors about the deep memory of the world and the frailty of our ecosystems.” From her home in Seattle, she traveled to ice-core sites in British Columbia and Antarctica. On the West Antarctic Ice Sheet she visited a research team drilling a two-mile-deep ice core, recovering atmosphere over 100,000 years old (ice cores provide a climatic record because of the air trapped in their layers).

“Ice offers symbolic stories of the planet and our effect on that story through millennia,” she says. “I began by drawing ice cores, kept in freezers, dissected by scientists.... (more)

Many great gift ideas for self and others.....paintings, leather bracelets, hand painted tees, hand painted helmets, ceramics, photography, gourds, jewelry, furniture, glass.

Dot artist Marie Stewart will custom paint your helmet, your ski gear, your jeans, your doors, your walls.

She has a wide assortment of guaranteed conversational, fun outer art wear, helmets, floor rugs, table mats, pouches, skulls

Check us out...bring the whole family.... shop for something uniquely hand made

Please Join Us!
Holiday Open House & Trunk Show

Ketchum & Hailey, ID — Of course painting is about putting paint on a surface—but it’s also about thinking.

In a five-day intensive workshop offered by the Sun Valley Center for the Arts January 23–27, the focus will be on advancing the way students think about the art of painting and not just painting technique.

With guidance from noted artist and teacher David deVillier, each student will be encouraged to think about how paint is used to convey personal and individual creative expressions. The class will explore a series of painting problems that require the use of imagination and invention. Students will work on drawings and small painting studies before advancing to a larger painted surface; students will not be working from still life, photography or the visible landscape. Paints for this class are oil, acrylic or watercolor—whatever students are most comfortable with—and all levels of experience are welcome.

David A. deVillier is a painter and sculptor who divides... (more)

Stop by the Sun Valley Center for the Arts for the most festive Gallery Walk of the year on Friday, December 30, and enjoy a glass of wine or a spiked eggnog while you view the exhibition. The gallery will stay open from 5 to 8 pm.

The Center’s current exhibition, Thin Ice: Journeys in Polar Regions, is especially appropriate during the cold and dark days of December. The exhibition feature photos by early explorers of the Arctic and Antarctica alongside work by contemporary artists who have visited these remote regions, including photographs, paintings, drawings, handmade books and an installation.

Regular gallery hours are 9 to 5 Monday through Friday. Free exhibition tours are scheduled for 2 pm Tuesday, January 3 and at 5:30 pm Thursday, January 26. To arrange for a tour at another time or in Spanish, call 726.9491 ex 10.   

Part of a larger multidisciplinary project on humankind’s fascination with the Polar Regions, Thin Ice also includes lectures, films and a free Family Day activity.... (more)

On December 13 – 18, Sun Valley Company will present Company of Fools’ production of IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY at the Sun Valley Opera House. The production will then conclude its run December 20-30 at the Liberty Theatre in Hailey.

Return to the thrilling days of yesteryear when news, music, comedy, drama, and soap operas came into our homes via radio. The setting is Christmas Eve 1946 at station WCOF, where several talented radio players bring you all the characters (yes, all of them!) in It’s a Wonderful Life, plus commercials, sound effects, and music – an engaging and memorable way to experience anew the powerful story of George Bailey, “the richest man in town.”

Company of Fools’ production features Rachel Abrams, Andrew Alburger, Jana Arnold, Greg Cappel, Kathryn Cherasaro,... (more)

Bellevue Community Church will host their annual Christmas Eve Candelight Carol Service on Sunday, December 24th at 6:30 p.m.  During the service, the Christmas Story will be read from scripture, with carol singing and candlelighting.  All are welcome, for all ages.  Bring your family for a delightful traditional Christmas experience.

309 E. Cedar St. in Bellevue (across from Bellevue Heiritage Park).

Royal Larkspur Players next play, RED by John Logan.  The NY Times review of the play is printed below the "poster reproduction image"...the image was created from one of the 3 paintings I did for the play. In fact there will be 5 huge "Rothko" reproductions on stage for this study of 2 years in the career of Mark Rothko, one of the founding fathers of abstract expressionism in America.  Opinionated, egotistical and pedantic, Rothko was also a brilliant progressive force and passionate lover of art in the 1940's and 50's; noted for refusing to honor a contract with the Seagrams Building architects to provide murals for their uber-restaurant.  In a startling twist he returned the money and kept the murals.  They were donated instead to the Tate Museum of Modern Art in London where they occupy a gallery all to themselves.    

"RED" was the toast of NYC in 2010 and won 6 Tonys including Best Drama and Best Actor (Alfred Molina).  The rights just became available;...

The Sun Valley Hallelujah Chorus will celebrate the holidays with a rousing free Christmas concert for all!  ‘A Vanilla Soul Christmas’ features everything from traditional Christmas carols done in a jazz motif to African music and dance, a gospel version of the Hallelujah chorus as well as Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and much more accompanied by the Cliff Cunha Soul Band. The Footlight Dancers will perform along with many  featured soloists including John Mauldin, Entertainment Director for the Sun Valley Company, who has appeared in “Forever Plaid”.

            The Hallelujah Chorus received rave reviews for their Christmas Concert last year. This year they will perform mostly new songs with a few of the best loved classics from last year.

            The chorus was created by talented local musician/conductor Patti Parsons Tewson who has loved the special exciting and moving quality to gospel... (more)

Louie Schwartzberg is an award-winning cinematographer, director, and producer whose notable career spans more than three decades providing breathtaking imagery for feature films, television shows, documentaries and commercials. As a visual artist, Louie has created some of the most iconic and memorable film moments of our time. He is an innovator in the world of time-lapse, nature, aerial and "slice-of-life" photography - the only cinematographer in the world who has literally been shooting 24 hours a day, 7 days a week continuously for more than 30 years.

Please join Caritas Chorale and artistic director Dick Brown, in this season's "Holiday Sing-Along".  This is a benefit for The Hunger Coalition, and everyone in the community is invited!  The Chorale will perform a few seasonal favorites, and the audience will be invited to join in for most of the singing.  The Sing-Along Finale once again will be The Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah.

There will be no charge for admission.  However, we are requesting a voluntary "fee" from those who attend of a contribution of non-perishable food or a check written to The Hunger Coalition.  There will be no reception this year following the concert.  Instead, Caritas Chorale will donate reception funds to The Hunger Coalition for the many needy families in our valley.

The "Sing-Along" event will be held at St. Thomas Episcopal Church on Sun Valley Road on Monday, December 5th, at 6:00 PM.  Please plan to attend, bring children, and let's all sing our way into the Holiday Season!

So you think you know what a cello sounds like? Genre-bending cellist Ben Sollee will change your mind about that in a performance at the Sun Valley Opera House on Friday, December 9.

“I never expect to see that cello in one piece after Ben gets done playing it,” says musician Yim Yames, frontman for My Morning Jacket and a friend and musical collaborator of Sollee’s. “He bows and beats and works it over with a passionate fury rarely seen. Don’t get me wrong—he can play it and hold his own with the most schooled and delicate scholars out there, but more importantly, Ben makes it live.”

Classically trained but unwilling to settle for just one kind of music, Sollee puts his cello to use in the service of folk, bluegrass, jazz and R&B. Backing him up at his December concert, part of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts 2011/2012 Winter Performing Arts Series, will be Jordon Ellis on percussion. In addition to playing the cello, Sollee contributes his amazing voice and songwriting talents to the duo.

“It’s Ben’s voice... (more)

Thank-Ski-Giving is a community party hosted by the Ski and Heritage Museums to celebrate the opening of the ski season and to give to those in need.  The Sun Valley Ski Academy, The Sun Valley Ski Club, and The Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation will all have tables in the Museum to discuss their programs.  The party will be from 5:30 to 7:30, Wednesday November 23rd, at the Ski Museum in Forest Service Park.  Old Death Whisper will be playing acoustic music in the Ski Museum, there will be bonfires and 'Hot Dog the Movie' playing in the park and both museums will be open to the public.   The public is encouraged to bring cans of food in exchange for a free beer or hot hhocolate.  Food donations will be going to the Hunger Coalition and donations of worn coats, hats, and gloves will be given to The Advocates.

For more information about this event please call Megan Murphy Lengyel at the Ski Museum at 721.3575.

That is right, all you would-be graphic artists...all you poor and starving Picasso wannabees, all you crazy absinthe drinking van Gogh impersonators, THIS is your chance to shine!   Whiskey's is holding a t-shirt design contest!!!  The winner gets $300 Cash, a $200 bar tab!, and your original work of art will be on display at Whiskey's the entire year! 

Oh yeah! Your design will also be the new logo for all the Whiskey Jacque's t-shirts and hoodies!   Let's see what those art critics have to say once your art is being worn by all the cool kids in town!

Here are the ground rules:

Rule # 1: All art work must be original, no stealing your ideas from Leonardo da Vinci.

Rules # 2: Must use Whiskey Jacque's logo somewhere in the design. (You know, the guy with a beard and the funny hat, who's always encouraging you to have another beer...You know, kinda looks like the guy from V for Vendetta).

Rule # 3: We prefer only one color in the design.  (No tie-die or rainbows...sorry hippies.)

Rule #4: The top 10 entries will...

Ketchum, ID — The Sun Valley Center for the Arts will be screening a thought-provoking film about teens and money and then offering a guided tour of its exhibition Awkward Stage: Adolescence and Identity on Thursday, November 17.

Both the film and tour are free and refreshments will be served. Come at 5 pm for the film, Lauren Greenfield’s kids + money, and stay for the tour at 5:30 pm.

In this 32-minute documentary, award-winning photographer and filmmaker Lauren Greenfield has an honest conversation with teens in Los Angeles about money. The subjects come from varied income levels, but all feel the pressures of consumerism—whether they embrace or fight it. The film was an official selection at the Sundance Film Festival and winner of several awards. It has been featured on HBO and at museums and film festivals all over the world, where critics have called it “frank,” “disturbing,” “horrifying,” “smart” and “funny.”

Greenfield’... (more)