‘Idaho Triennial’ tour makes a stop at UI

The “2004 Idaho Triennial” is under way in the University of Idaho’s Prichard Art Gallery in Moscow. The traveling exhibit, organized every three years by the Boise Art Museum, is a juried exhibition that reflects the high caliber and diversity of artwork being created in Idaho.

“The quality of work submitted was exceptional, making this year’s selection process extremely competitive,” says gallery director Roger H.D. Rowley in an e-mail.

A total of 1,284 entries was submitted by 257 artists. The works on tour include 53 pieces by 27 artists. One of those artists is weaver Sarah Swett of Moscow.

“From my earliest crumpled needlepoint squares to later embroidery and my ever-present knitting, I have tried to tell stories with fiber,” Swett says.

Her 3-foot-by-4-foot tapestry in the show, “The River Wyrd,” is based on the myth of the three Fates, or “Wyrd” in Anglo-Saxon mythology.

“In the mythology of many cultures,” says Swett, “there are three women, or Fates, who control life – one who spins the thread of life, one who measures it and one who cuts it off.”

The tapestry took three months to complete.

Boise artists in the show include Richard Allen, Ted Apel, Lori Dagley, Virginia DeFoggi, Kevin Flynn, David Frankel, Holly Gilchrist, Charles Gill, Geoffrey Krueger, Tara McElhose-Eiguren, Grant Olsen, Lou Ray, Rachel Reese, Reba Robinson, Abbie Thomson, Susan Valiquette and Jennifer Williams.

Additional Idaho artists are William Lennon of Bellevue; Don King of Challis; Surel Mitchell of Garden City; Paul Downey of Ketchum; Rena Vandewater of Meridian; Heather Anderson and Elaine Green of Moscow; George Gledhill of Payette; and Margo Proksa of Pocatello.

An opening reception is Aug. 26 from 5 to 8 p.m. in the gallery, 414 S. Main St. in downtown Moscow.

The free exhibit is up through Oct. 1. Regular gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. For additional information call (208) 885-3586.

Moscow’s Third Street Gallery

Third Street Gallery is spotlighting the three Moscow artists showing in the “2004 Idaho Triennial”: Heather Anderson, Elaine Green and Sarah Swett.

“We are pleased to be exhibiting addition work of these three outstanding local artists,” said Moscow Art Commission Director Deena Heath. “To have three artists selected for this distinguished event truly speaks to the quality of the local artistic community.”

Anderson, a second-year graduate student at the University of Idaho, is displaying a photographic suite related to her “Ladies in Waiting” series on exhibit at the Prichard Art Gallery.

Green’s work includes non-figurative charcoal drawings. She received her master’s degree in fine arts from UI in May.

Swett is showing large, narrative tapestries. “Each work is a story in itself as well as the story of my life while I wove it,” she says in her artist statement.

The artists will discuss their work at an opening reception on Friday from 5 to 7:30 p.m. in the gallery, 206 E. Third St. in Moscow. The work is up through Oct. 7.

Spirit Lake community festival

Loretta Lowerre, the mastermind behind the first Great Northwestern Art and Craft Festival in Spirit Lake, Idaho, has been busy, busy, busy.

The fledgling festival, organized to “Celebrate the Spirit of Creativity,” takes place Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. in Spirit Lake Park.

“I’ve been working on the festival for eight months,” says Lowerre, “because I want to help various community services. Most people really know how much they do for us.”

Proceeds from the festival activities will go to support the local fire department, elementary school parent-teacher organizations and food bank.

More than 30 vendors will be set up in Spirit Lake Park, featuring everything from home-baked goods to fine arts and crafts. There will be live music and a chili cook-off judged by firefighters.

For more information go to www.artsandcraftsfestival.itgo.com.

‘Fishing for the Moon’

Van Gogh meets Dr. Seuss in Rusty Summy’s ceramic show, “Fishing for the Moon and Other Bright Things,” at the Gold Mountains Gallery in Republic, Wash.

“It is Summy’s textural work that earns him the Van Gogh comparison,” says gallery director John-Dan Key in an e-mail. “Deeply incised swirls of water traverse much of his ceramics, which includes raku platters, bowls, vases and wall hangings.”

Key continues: “Where not coated with swirls of water, air or other patterns, Summy places enigmatic moons, pop-eyed dragonflies, funky coyotes, trees and fish – the sort of things Dr. Seuss would have drawn, had he lived in the Northwest.”

Meet Summy at his artist’s reception Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. in the gallery, 852 S. Clark Ave., next to the Northern Inn hotel in Republic.

The work is on display through Sept. 11. The free gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Call (509) 775-8010 for directions and additional information.

Glass on the Grass

The 12th annual “Glass on the Grass” celebration of glass art takes place Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Arbor Crest Cliff House, 4705 N. Fruithill Road.

“Glass on the Grass” features more than 30 glass artists displaying glass art and doing demonstrations. Expect live music, wine tasting and food available from Catered for You. Because of the wine tasting, attendees must be 21 or older.

Motorcycles and art

The Budding Rose Art Gallery and Clayworks, a nonprofit art gallery for kids, is sponsoring a special fund-raising art show during the “Next 100 Years of Motorcycle Rally” on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Rosalia, Wash.

A special art show to benefit the Rosalia Dollars for Scholars Fund includes works from Harold Balazs, Linda La Kempf, Torque, Joe Breckenridge and Earl Atkinson’s Hollywood Star Collection. There will be pottery from ceramists Josh De Weese, Ted Adler and Neil Schielle.

Tickets for the motorcycle rally and art show can be purchased through TicketsWest outlets (325-SEAT, 800-325-SEAT, www.ticketswest.com) or on site for $12.95 (day pass) or $29.95 (day and night pass to music concert). For more details go to www.100yearsofmotorcycles.com

Western art ‘Soiree’

Contemporary wildlife artist Maria Ryan and oil painter Robert Krogle will be part of the “Northwest Soiree Cowboy and Indian Collectible Show,” Friday through Sunday at the Coeur d’Alene Casino in Worley, Idaho.

Ryan, of Coeur d’Alene, will be showing her new horse and longhorn steer paintings along with many other Western-themed pieces. An artist and designer for more than 30 years, she has had paintings displayed in the Tampa (Fla.) Museum of Art.

Coeur d’Alene artist Krogle produces a variety of paintings in an impressionistic style. His canvases include Western, figurative and landscape themes.

There is an admission fee of $15 for all three days, or $5 a day on Saturday and Sunday. Children 12 and under are admitted free.