The Innovative New J Crist Gallery

The Innovative New J Crist Gallery
A new gallery just opened.

Not "new" in the sense of name; J Crist Gallery has been bringing contemporary, innovative art to the area for over a decade.

"New" pertains to the building--specific ally designed to be a gallery.

Why is it worth mentioning?

Because it is not a remodel or adaptive reuse of an existing building, as is typically the case for most of Boise's gallery spaces.

It is a new cultural building in Boise, positioning itself as an anchor to the developing arts corridor emerging along Main Street--and, it's edgy.

For gallery owners Jacque and Charley Crist, the idea of a new space came about several years ago, when their space in the Belgravia Building in Old Boise was becoming too small.

They began the process of finding a new location, bringing along Dwaine Carver of Trout Architects, and visited existing Boise buildings looking for an appropriate space.

The notion of finding a plot of land and building new was never seriously considered, until they found this parcel, a former car lot, on the corner of 17th Street and Fairview Avenue.

Carver and Jacque Crist had worked together over the years with the Belgravia space.

In explaining whether there were any preconceptions or notions about the direction the design wanted to go, Carver indicated that they both shared many of the sa