BOISE, Idaho — The James Castle House will reopen in a limited capacity and with safety protocols in place on October 1 after being closed for nearly seven months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
James Castle created work using soot, made by scraping carbon from a woodstove and mixing it with spit to create a charcoal paste. His work is on display at The James Castle House.
Visits to the home will be by appointment only and at reduced numbers (groups of no more than five) on Fridays and Saturdays at 12 p.m., according to a news release. Visitors can enjoy Castle’s home and historic shed, the gallery space and the General Store by making reservations online.
For in-person visits and service, employees and visitors will be required to observe the following safety protocols:
- Physical distancing (6-foot distance from others)
- Face coverings
- Keep hands and surfaces clean (hand sanitizer will be available)
Along with the reopening, the James Castle House welcomes the 2020 James Castle House Resident and visual artist Kailey Barthel to Boise from Baltimore, Maryland. Selected after a nationwide call and announced in July 2019, Barthel will spend the next ten weeks immersed in the world of James Castle and his house to create a new body of work through November 11, 2020.
During her residency, Barthel will be using a variety of painting and printmaking techniques to explore the tension between the strangeness and familiarity of disrupted domestic spaces. Taking inspiration from the James Castle House and its surrounding environments, she hopes to capture the lingering traces of lived experiences in these spaces.
The community is invited to engage with Barthel and her work at the following virtual events:
Virtual Resident Talk
Virtual Open Studio
