{"id":7791,"date":"2016-06-03T20:02:25","date_gmt":"2016-06-03T20:02:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idsunmedia.com\/?p=7791"},"modified":"2016-06-03T20:02:25","modified_gmt":"2016-06-03T20:02:25","slug":"arts-movement-underway-in-bellevue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2016\/06\/03\/arts-movement-underway-in-bellevue\/","title":{"rendered":"ARTS MOVEMENT UNDERWAY IN BELLEVUE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Newly formed commission to advance arts in south Valley city<\/i><\/span><\/h2>\n

BY MARIA PREKEGES <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Artist
Artist Anne Jeffery\u2019s self-portrait and photo montage. Photo courtesy of Anne Jeffrey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Wood River Valley is home to many art galleries and artists from all aspects of the art world, a fact that is readily apparent in Ketchum and the north Wood River Valley, which is generally viewed as the area\u2019s center for artistic endeavors.<\/p>\n

However, a new movement has started in Bellevue to extend the reputation for the arts to the south Valley. This movement was strengthened earlier this month by the unanimous approval of the Bellevue Common Council to form a new Bellevue Arts Commission.<\/p>\n

Why Bellevue and why the groundswell for the arts? The movement started with two local artists, Suzanne Hazlett and Anne Jeffrey, and a special annual event, the Wood River Valley Studio Tour, which Hazlett and Jeffrey founded in 2013.<\/p>\n

Since its launch,\u00a0the studio tour, using the acronym WRVST, has became the largest artist-open-studio event in the state of Idaho. Hazlett and Jeffrey noted that while the overall visitor count for the event has grown 100 percent year after year, many of the artists who maintain studios in Bellevue have experienced a decline in their audience. Despite year-round marketing efforts, there was no real improvement in the south Valley.<\/p>\n

\"Leather
Leather artist Jack Sept in his Bellevue studio. Photo courtesy of Anne Jeffrey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hazlett said she and Jeffrey recognized that these efforts were focused only on the symptoms, and not the source of the problem, which is that the Bellevue community has not realized its potential in presenting an environment of cultural vitality that draws in visitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Wood River Valley Studio Tour is currently one of a very few arts events that extends to the Bellevue community,\u201d Hazlett said. \u201cThis is a reality Anne Jeffery and I aspire to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recognizing an opportunity for more, Hazlett, who lives in Sun Valley, began working with Jeffrey, who lives in Bellevue and is an accomplished photographer with prior experience in public relations. The two joined forces and their venture started with forming and gaining city approval for the Bellevue Arts Commission. Hazlett and Jeffrey are now the commission\u2019s first members and have been appointed co-chairs.<\/p>\n

Hazlett and Jeffrey explained that Bellevue has a variety of different artists currently working in the city, who typically prefer a more quiet, rural setting for inspiration. And, although Bellevue has a more rural community feel, it is still close enough to Ketchum, Sun Valley, and Hailey and what those cities have to offer in the artistic world.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are looking forward to working with the Bellevue community in developing a strategic and feasible plan for bringing art in all its different forms to the city,\u201d said Jeffrey.<\/p>\n

In a press release, Hazlett and Jeffrey jointly explained the advantage of forming an arts commission:<\/p>\n

\u201cA Bellevue Arts Commission can seek grants for projects and\/or events, provide a focus to involve and inspire volunteers and promote the recognition and development of local Bellevue artists.\u00a0Arts and culture are useful agents for invigoration and restoring character to downtown cores, rekindling pride and belief in a community and attracting visitors.\u00a0\u00a0Bellevue is the gateway to the Wood River Valley and growing the art and culture of Bellevue will benefit the whole Wood River Valley arts community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that the arts commission has been approved, Hazlett and Jeffrey are anxious to \u201ctake this dream and turn it into something tangible.\u201d<\/p>\n

They are currently pursing a matching grant through the Idaho Commission on the Arts and are trying to raise the $1,500 local match as soon as possible. According to Hazlett and Jeffrey, the \u201cfunds will\u00a0help underwrite the cost for a cultural planning consultant to assess\u00a0the Bellevue community and help identify the most impactful and feasible path to embark upon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\n

DONATIONS<\/b><\/p>\n

Donations for the newly formed Bellevue Arts Commission can be mailed to the commission in care of Bellevue City Hall at 115 E. Pine St., P.O. Box 825, Bellevue, ID 83318. For more information or to become involved with the commission, contact co-chairs Suzanne Hazlett at suzanne@wrvstudiotour.org or Anne Jeffrey at jeffanne@earthlink.net.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Newly formed commission to advance arts in south Valley city BY MARIA PREKEGES The Wood River Valley is home to many art galleries and artists from all aspects of the art world, a fact that is readily apparent in Ketchum and the north Wood River Valley, which is generally viewed as the area\u2019s center for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7792,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,4,18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7791","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-art","8":"category-entertainment","9":"category-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}