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Our mission is "to provoke and stimulate the imagination while opening hearts and minds through excellence in diverse arts programming."

We do this by offering exhibitions, lectures, classes and performing arts events that touch on issues relevant to our times and by bringing some of the world's most interesting artists, writers and thinkers to our small community in central Idaho.

We care about arts education and are committed to partnering with local schools to bring artists and authors into the schools. The Center's outreach programs supplement the school curriculum with in school classes and workshops, many of which are offered free of charge to area students and teachers.

We also sponsor a robust scholarship program that, since 1999, has given more than $341,000 to over 200 local students and educators. Funds for scholarships come from The Center's annual Wine Auction and private donors.

Please visit our website for more information on the Sun Valley Center for the Arts: www.sunvalleycenter.org

THE CENTER, KETCHUM
191 Fifth Street East, Ketchum
Open 9am–5pm Mon–Fri
Open Sats 11am–5 pm in Feb & Mar and July & Aug
The Center is closed on federal holidays.

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Current & upcoming events at The Center, Ketchum »

The Center's main exhibition space and staff offices are located in Ketchum at the corner of Washington Avenue and Fifth Street, two blocks west of Main Street. Admission to The Center gallery is always free.

Trained volunteer guides, known as docents, conduct free tours every Tuesday at 2pm. The Center generally schedules an evening tour for each exhibition and can arrange tours by appointment, in English or Spanish. Call 208.726.9491 ex 10 in advance of your visit to arrange a tour.

The Center hosts six visual arts exhibitions a year. Most Center exhibitions are curated by Center staff, though The Center does on occasion collaborate with guest curators or display traveling exhibitions. Exhibitions focus on contemporary art but many exhibitions also include a historical component as well. Most exhibitions are part of multidisciplinary projects that explore ideas or concepts relevant to our times and of interest to our community. Multidisciplinary projects include visual arts exhibitions, music and dance performances, family events and talks leading thinkers and authors.

The Center stays open until 8 pm during the monthly Gallery Walks sponsored by the Sun Valley Gallery Association. Start your gallery walk at The Center with wine and hors d'oeuvres from 5:30 to 6:30pm-It's the First Place to Be! Upcoming Gallery Walks.

Small lectures, performances and some classes are also held at our Ketchum facility.

THE CENTER, HAILEY
314 Second Avenue South, Hailey
Open noon-5 pm, Wed-Fri


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Current & upcoming events at The Center, Hailey »

In 2005, the Sun Valley Center for the Arts became the owner of a historic house at 314 Second Avenue South, one of the oldest houses in the town of Hailey, Idaho. The house was the birthplace of poet Ezra Pound and was later the private residence of one of Hailey's most beloved and busy citizens, Roberta McKercher, until her death in 1996.

Only the first floor of the house is open to the public. The upstairs is frequently used to house visiting artists.

The Hailey property also includes a freestanding, 1,200-square-foot classroom built to The Center's specifications in 2006. Designed by local architects Marc and Jill Corney of Red Canoe Architecture, the classroom is named the Castellano-Wood Family Classroom in honor of Sun Valley Center benefactors Benjamin Wood and Theresa Castellano-Wood.

Together, the house and classroom allow The Center to offer exhibitions, classes, workshops and small lectures and performances in a location convenient to the growing population of southern Blaine County. Annual Hailey events include a writer's workshop each June, an outdoor summer ¡fandango! concert in association with the College of Southern Idaho, a Fourth of July ice cream social and several weeks of summer art camp for kids ages 5 and up. The Center, Hailey, also stays open late for regularly scheduled Hailey art walks during the summer months.

HISTORY OF THE HOUSE



The Hailey home of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts at 314 Second Avenue South is one of the oldest houses in town. The house was built in 1882-3 by Homer Pound and is reputed to be the first in the area to use lath and plaster wall construction. The house has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982.



The poet Ezra Pound was born in this house on Oct. 30, 1885, although he did not live here very long. In 1887 the Pound family moved east to Pennsylvania, where their only child, Ezra, was raised. Still, Pound's birthplace has attracted many well-known poets, including Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Allen Ginsburg.

Twentieth-century Owners

After the Pounds left Hailey in 1887, a number of influential and philanthropic people lived here. Mrs. Plughoff, a Baptist Sunday school teacher, lived in the house around 1910. Another resident was Emma Reed, who raised one of the early mayors of Hailey, Lawrence Heagle (for whom Heagle Park is named), when he was orphaned.

In 1938, Bob and Lena Horne purchased the home. The Hornes had four daughters. The eldest, Roberta Horne McKercher, moved a few miles south to Bellevue when she married in 1928. For some forty years she worked at the Hailey Times, now the Wood River Journal, as a reporter covering everything from obituaries to school and community news. She was founding member of the Hailey Little League and lifetime honorary secretary for the Hailey Chamber of Commerce. She also assumed the post her father had held as manager of the local Idaho State Liquor Dispensary after his retirement. The Roberta McKercher Gateway Park was dedicated to her during her lifetime in recognition of her status as Hailey's most beloved citizen.

In 1969, Roberta moved back home to take care of her ailing parents, and she resided in the house until her death in 1996. A handwritten codicil to her will requested that the house, if not kept by the family, be sold as a memorial to Hailey's native poet Ezra Pound. In 1998, the newly formed Ezra Pound Association purchased the house with generous donations from part-time Hailey resident Jennifer Wilson and Pound's daughter Mary de Rachewiltz. The Ezra Pound Association over time became the Hailey Cultural Center, which then transferred ownership of the house to the Sun Valley Center for the Arts in 2005.

Interior Renovations

The house required modernization to conform to safety standards and to function as a community facility rather than as a private residence. Beginning in 1998, hazardous wiring was torn out, false ceilings were removed and structural repairs were made to the chimney, roof, windows and exterior walls. Some trees whose roots threatened the foundation were cut down.



Major changes were made to the floorplan to open it up and make it accessible. Care was taken to preserve original windows and other features when possible. Unfortunately, there were no photos of the original interior upon which to base decoration. The wallpaper in the first-floor rooms is based on designs by William Morris that were popular in the late 19th century. The design and color of the carpets in the downstairs rooms is an attempt to replicate carpets removed during renovation.


The Center has put together a scrapbook that shows before and after pictures of the extensive renovation and remodeling of the Pound/McKercher house. Ask to see it when you visit.

Exterior Renovations

The wrought iron fence and gate-the only remaining example from that period in Blaine County-are original and have not been restored. In the new landscaping, every effort was made to choose traditional plants and flowers that might have been used in 1885. The white roses on the south lawn were brought by the Hornes from the Midwest. A gorgeous apple tree, designated by the America the Beautiful Fund as Idaho's centennial tree, shades the front of the house and is encircled by pansies, Roberta's favorite flower.

The Center's freestanding classroom was completed in 2006 and sits on a corner of the property where an old insurance map indicated that there once was a carriage house. The classroom was sited on this corner in part to save the 100-year-old rose bushes.

An old shed behind the house was torn down to make room for handicapped accessible parking and a ramp.

The Classroom

The Center's freestanding classroom, designed by Hailey architects Marc and Jill Corney of Red Canoe Architecture, was completed in 2006. The height is the same almost the same height as the height of the historic house, and the exterior is covered with vertical planks of natural brown wood siding to give the appearance of a rustic barn. The architects came up with the design after being inspired by a barn they saw behind the South Valley Pizzeria in the neighboring town of Bellevue.



After the decision had been made to site the barn on the southeast corner of the property, Marc and Jill found an old insurance map that showed there had originally been another structure on this same spot, either a carriage house or stable.

The classroom offers 1,200 square feet of multifunctional space with plenty of room for up to 30 students, depending on the media used. The classroom has a printing press which has been used for mono-printing and wood block printing classes, 10 iBooks which have allowed for digital photography classes, and with new tables and the ability to black out the room - The Center has juried the Arts & Crafts Festival there for two years running. In 2007, Preservation Idaho honored the classroom with an "Orchid" award for historic preservation, citing its sensitivity to the state's cultural history.


Construction costs for the classroom were paid out of proceeds from the Sun Valley Center for the Arts annual Wine Auction fundraiser.Generous individuals and foundations interested in the success of The Center's programs in Hailey provided funds to outfit the classroom with equipment and supplies. Local contractor Engelmann, Inc. generously stepped forward to oversee the construction project and recruited a large number of Valley subcontractors to join them in waiving or reducing their fees.