Tags
Aaron Paul, art, Boise, Colby Akers, creativity, Freak Alley Gallery, graffiti, Idaho, murals, public art
In my last post I mentioned Freak Alley. We’re on our way over there now, but along the way, there are so many distractions




Freak Alley, an iconic feature of downtown Boise, was born of an act of random noodling on the back door of Moon’s Cafe — an icon in its own right. Busted in the act by the owner stepping out the door, Colby Akers quickly apologized and offered to remove his graffiti. But the clever owner instead asked him to sign and date his work after he finished it. Other business owners quickly hopped on the cool wagon and asked Akers to beautify their back entrances, too. In no time, Akers had more work than he needed and began to spread the notoriety amongst his underground and established artist acquaintances.

According to Rebecca King of Totally Boise, Freak Alley Gallery has been touted as the oldest outdoor mural gallery in the Northwest. It encompasses the entire alley from 8th to 9th Streets between Bannock and Idaho Streets, and bleeds into adjacent alleys. A miraculously vacant building site on Bannock that serves as an unpaved surface parking lot has provided even more space for street art.
Breaking Boise is an local inside joke. Aaron Paul, who played Jessie Pinkman in the wildly popular AMC series, “Breaking Bad,” grew up in a small agricultural community near Boise. It is said that Paul’s Boise home is listed on Air B&B, if you ever get the itch to visit Boise.
Artists range in age from 7 to 35. Although much of the art employs graffiti style paintings, these works are technically murals, defined as any artwork painted directly onto a wall or building and incorporating architectural features into the image. Graffiti is much the same, but implies unauthorized painting. The murals are refreshed each year with new works, sometimes incorporating new work right alongside an existing piece. The subject matter is completely open to the selected artists, some may have local historic relevance and some may be wildly political in nature. Aker’s overarching goal in establishing Freak Alley was to provide an inclusive platform for often overlooked artists to display their talent and creativity.
Neatest thing ever! Most of the “graffiti” I’ve seen in my life…mostly in Spain, Milwaukee, Tucson & Southern CA…..is beautifully, meticulously done (altho’ the content is often questionable). Boise touts first-class artwork.
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You know, I’ve said the same thing about content while strolling through famous art galleries. That’s the thing about art. It’s very subjective. 😉
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There’s graffiti and then there’s tagging. The latter needs to be dealt with asap.
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Yes! That is an important distinction. Thank you for bringing that up, Brien. Hope you are well.
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I’m a big fan of street art and this collection certainly didn’t disappoint! Funny about Jessie Pinkman… I loved Breaking Bad, but I think I’ll pass on the house 🙂
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I came late to Breaking Bad, but I fell hard once I arrived. However the later seasons got pretty silly. (There’s someplace you could stay for free, anyway. Just not quite as fancy.)
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Modern cave paintings without the cave. I live in Little Rock the capital city of Arkansas. We have less than a smidgen of wall art compared to ya’ll, but it livens up the downtown area. Your downtown looks like a colorful to visit.
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Great observation, cave paintings w/o the cave!
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That is quite the tour and an interesting variety of creativity. It looks like you had good weather as well, a bonus to accompany an entertaining walk.
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Early mornings are best during the summer. I don’t deal well with the heat. Today it is super smoky. Not sure if the smoke is from California fires or Colorado. So far this summer, Idaho has had a pretty moderate fire season.
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Linda, I truly love this. Freak Alley is so cool. It is hard to pick a favorite mural, there are so many inventive ones. Thanks for sharing. Keith
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Absolutely true. It’s impossible to pick a favorite.
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Love all the variety. Definitely livens up the dreary buildings. Thanks for the tour!
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Yes it does lively up the old brick and concrete. Makes for great conversations, too.
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Great idea! Do you get the usual kind of rubbishy graffiti as well?
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Oh yes that, too, exists. Tagging, as Brien points out, is an annoying destruction of property and totally unsanctioned. The city has a group of volunteers who respond as quickly as possible to reports of tagging. They paint over the offensive tags with a type of paint that supposedly resists follow up tagging. The cool thing though is that by giving bored/angry youngsters a bonafide venue to execute their frustration in a creative way, I think our incidence of destructive tagging is minimized. At least a bit.
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I didn’t know the term “tagging” in that sense. Glad that Boise seems to have its share of enlightened and active citizens.
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We have our share of dingbats, too!
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Great word!
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Great coverage of our graffiti art scene. I love how it is dynamic – I have noticed in the past how art on some walls has been painted over anew. It is so fresh and lively, it reflects the spunk, spirit and soul of Boiseans. When I moved to Boise 20 years ago I could see how much it was loved. It is a special place. It breaks my heart that so many have moved in…. but when I talk to my patients who were raised here, I am reminded that I “moved into” Boise too.
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Yes, everyone who arrives wants to lock the gate behind themselves. But it just doesn’t work that way. The quickest way to light my fire is for someone who moved to Boise in the last 5 – 10 years to start whining about how Boise is being destroyed by newcomers! Like they expect change to not happen? By that logic, Main Street would still be a mud path. Actually, non of us Caucasians would be here.
I, too, came from someplace else, back when the population was around 75-85,000. I’m part of the problem. But with the problem, also come gems. A vibrant downtown is one of those gems.
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Hello. Beautiful murals. I live near Philadelphia, which has 1,500 or more murals throughout the city. Many of them were created under the auspices of a quasi-governmental agency.
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Very cool and colorful!
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BTW Neil — I used to live on the Jersey side of Philly. My alma mater, Moore College of Art & Design offered a mural trolly trip that I went on years ago.
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The Mural Arts Project will resume those trolley tours, I think, if and when the pandemic ends. There are SO many murals in Philly, it’s amazing.
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By quasi-governmental, perhaps a bit like the Roosevelt’s WPA? Those were some amazing murals which document our social values at the time they were painted. As art often becomes, some of the remaining murals have become flashpoints of controversy, much like our monuments.
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Hello. Many murals have been done by the Mural Works Project, which I think is a partnership between Philadelphia city government and the private sector.
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I wonder if anyone has ever tallied the murals in Boise. I’m sure we don’t have 1,500. But it would be an interesting stat to find. Hmmmm…
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Woops … I posted in the wrong place above. These murals are very cool … makes me want to visit Boise!
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Well, if you ever do, may I recommend spring rather than this smoky time of year? And know you’d have lodging if you so desired.
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Certainly distraction, but how cool aren’t they! Makes for a more interesting city I think.
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I agree. Plus it’s a great venue for young, local artists.
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