Persona and Place

What can photographs reveal about the artists behind the art? Drawing from images featured in the James Castle House's current exhibition, Where Art Begins: The People and Places of the Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios Program, Valerie Balint will guide attendees through a visual journey of artists across three centuries, exploring how portrait photography and preserved spaces offer insight into their lives and legacies.

This engaging talk places James Castle and his Boise home within a broader national context, connecting his story to other iconic figures and preserved sites in the Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios (HAHS) network. From Georgia O’Keeffe’s adobe compound in New Mexico to Wharton Esherick’s handcrafted Pennsylvania home, Balint will introduce the personalities and places that make up this remarkable consortium of 80 sites across 31 states.

Date: July 25, 2025
Time: 5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Location: James Castle House (5015 Eugene St.)

This is a ticketed event, and registration is required. Please note that refunds will not be issued for cancellations.

REGISTER ON EVENTBRITE FOR BOTH IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL ATTENDANCE.

• General Admission: $10

Event Details:

• 5:30 p.m. – Doors open
• 6 – 7 p.m. – Hybrid presentation, followed by a brief audience Q&A
• 7 – 8 p.m. – In person reception with light refreshments and an opportunity to connect with the presenters and fellow attendees

About Valerie Balint:

Valerie Balint is Director of Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios (HAHS), a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the author of Guide to Historic Artists' Homes and Studios (Princeton Architectural Press, June 2020). Prior to heading HAHS, Ms. Balint served for seventeen years on the curatorial staff at Frederic Church’s Olana (also a HAHS site), most recently as Interim Director of Collections and Research.

She was co-organizer and co-curator of Olana’s annual exhibitions and accompanying publications. She is co-author of Glories of the Hudson: Frederic Church’s Views from Olana (Cornell Press, 2009). She is a frequent lecturer and writer on preserved artists’ spaces, Frederic Church, the Hudson River School, and American art and social history of the mid-19th and early 20th century. Her previous work also includes curatorial positions at Chesterwood and the Frelinghuysen Morris House & Studio (also HAHS sites). She served as the New York State Coordinator of “Save Outdoor Sculpture,” a program of the Smithsonian American Art Museum to document all public sculpture in the United States. Balint is a longtime advocate for recognizing and valuing the important place artists’ homes and public art hold within the greater context of cultural history in America.

Image: James Castle at his desk, courtesy of James Castle Collection and Archive.

Also check out other Arts events in Boise, Literary Art events in Boise, Exhibitions in Boise.