The Deal was a seminal project created by artists Amy Westover and Jennifer Wood to mark a momentous period in Boise's artistic community. Created in 2008, it was a deck of trading cards, highlighting Idaho artists from multiple media and genres, that were meant to be exchanged in order to foster a greater sense of awareness and potential collaboration amongst the artists featured. What are you cr
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In honor of the final Modern Art (May 5, 2016), we, Meshel Ledét and John Michael Schert, have been discussing the feeling that, like 2008, 2016 feels to be an auspicious year for Boise's creative community. As an homage to Westover and Wood, and with the backing of The Modern Hotel, we propose to create a booster deck to The Deal, titled The New Deal. We seek to create a 55-card set that complements The Deal by introducing artists and organizations who have come on the scene since 2008. We also want to remember those artists and organizations that have left us in the past eight years. In creating The New Deal, we want to again engender a spirit of collaboration and communication through the trading of artists’ works. We hope to educate the Boise community to the incredible, powerful voices present in our community so that we see them as not just creators of product and entertainment, but Creators of the highest magnitude making our city a more diverse and evolved place to work and live. With the support of The Modern Hotel, an ICA QuickFunds grant (pending), and this Kickstarter campaign, we can confidently endeavor to sell 300 packs of 15 cards each ($15/pack) representing 46 "new" artists and arts organizations, 6 in memoriam cards, an Index/Key, a "Joker" card (featuring Wood, Westover, Ledet and Schert), and a Modern Art commemorative card. We will produce the project, enlisting the help of local graphic designer Tony Hart, filmmaker Zach Voss, and crafts designer Juliana McLenna to fabricate The New Deal and its ancillary components. The New Deal will be unveiled at Modern Art May, which will serve as our first swap/sale (In Room 118). Subsequent trading card swaps/sales will occur during Feast Boise (June 22, 2016), DinnerSpace (late summer 2016), and during a series of social media led swaps. The New Deal we hope will take a snapshot of Boise’s creative community in 2016 and serve as a time capsule for the next generations of Idaho artists. For that is what The Deal does for us when we meander through the deck of artist trading cards. Future collaboration is just around the corner. Perhaps there might be a Great Society booster set next...
