James Castle House

02/02/2026

“Echoes of Home” highlights the powerful bond between James Castle’s art and the people who choose to make it part of their lives. Featuring pieces from private local collections, the exhibition reveals the diverse range of Castle’s work that finds its way into Boise homes and into the hearts of those who cherish it.

This exhibition is made possible thanks to the generous contributions of loaned and donated artworks from the private collections of Jim and Ariel Agenbroad, Cate Brigden, Eve and Thomas Chandler, Clark and Sydney Fidler, James Gilles, Deborah Hardee, the Higgins Family, Melissa Martin, Kenneth McCulloch, Andrea Merrell, Lisa and John Pisano, and Laura Rasmussen.

Learn more and plan your visit at jamescastlehouse.org

01/07/2026

Our current exhibition, “Echoes of Home,” highlights the powerful bond between James Castle’s art and the people who choose to make it part of their lives.

Andrea Merrell has lived in Boise for over thirty years and first encountered James Castle’s work at the Boise Art Museum while attending a presentation. Years later, while serving as Collections Manager for the James Castle Collection and Archive, the Castle family generously offered staff the opportunity to select an artwork from their collection.

“It was impossible to choose a favorite,” Merrell says of the experience. “True to Castle, groupings sometimes become more eloquent than a single drawing. The two other small drawings were added later, creating a group; each drawing both suggests and questions these figure-and-circle relationships.”

“Echoes of Home” is made possible thanks to the generosity of local collectors and families who have opened their private collections to share James Castle’s work with the community.

View this exhibition exclusively at the James Castle House (5015 Eugene Street, Boise) until May 2026.

Learn more and plan your visit at jamescastlehouse.org.

Images: James Castle (1899-1977), Untitled, n.d. © 2025 James Castle Collection and Archive, All Rights Reserved. On loan from Andrea Merrell. Andrea Merrell during the opening reception of “Echoes of Home.” Photography by Wytske van Keulen.

12/23/2025

Our current exhibition, “Echoes of Home,” highlights the powerful bond between James Castle’s art and the people who choose to make it part of their lives.

Longtime Boisean Dolly Higgins first encountered James Castle’s art roughly three decades ago during a visit to the Boise Art Museum with her children. Instantly captivated, she purchased her first Castle artwork just weeks later from the J Crist Gallery. Since then, her family’s collection has grown to 16 Castle artworks, ranging from small constructions to soot-and-spit drawings.

“Echoes of Home” is made possible thanks to the generosity of local collectors and families, including the Higgins Family, who have opened their private collections to share James Castle’s work with the community.

View this exhibition exclusively at the James Castle House (5015 Eugene Street, Boise) until May 2026.

Learn more and plan your visit at jamescastlehouse.org.

Images: James Castle (1899-1977), Untitled, n.d. © 2025 James Castle Collection and Archive, All Rights Reserved. On loan from the Higgins Family. Dolly and Brian Higgins during the opening reception of “Echoes of Home.” Photography by Wytske van Keulen.

11/20/2025

INTRODUCING the 2026 Residents!

We are delighted to announce that, after a nationwide call, CL Young and Oluwatobi Adewumi have been selected for 2-month residencies, and Lydia Ricci and Diana Kohne for 2-week residencies.

The James Castle House residency program is designed to capture the experimental and creative spirit of James Castle, a self-taught artist and deaf man who lived and created in Boise, Idaho for over 40 years. Residents are encouraged to immerse themselves in the history of the site and the legacy of James Castle to create new works.

During their stay, residents share their creative practice with our community through free public events including open studios, workshops, and presentations.

Congratulations to CL, Oluwatobi, Lydia, and Diana! We’re so excited to see you all in Boise next year!

Learn more about the 2026 Residents at jamescastlehouse.org.

Images: “BOISE" Work (how’d you?) (2025) by CL Young. Photograph by Janell N. Strouse; The time will come (2024) by Oluwatobi Adewumi; This Might Make It Worse (2025) by Lydia Ricci; Colorado Alley (2025) by Diana Kohne

09/11/2025

Join us for the first annual James Castle Community Celebration on September 27, 2-6 p.m.

Celebrate the birthday of Idaho artist James Castle and Deaf Awareness Month with an afternoon full of art, connection, and family fun!

What’s Happening:

🔸 2:30 p.m. – Opening remarks with City of Boise Council Member Jimmy Hallyburton

🔸 2–5 p.m. – Artmaking, bookmaking, scavenger hunt, classic games, and the Excite Trike

🔸 3–5 p.m. – Artist Open Studio with resident

🔸 5–6 p.m. – Storytelling from Boise’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing community

Food and drinks available for purchase from The Farmboy, Lost Grove Brewing, and Sunset Soft Serve.

This free, family-friendly event is presented with our amazing partners: Idaho Council for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Idaho Association of the Deaf, Boise Public Library, Collister Neighborhood Association , Boise Art Museum, Boise State University, and Idaho Hands & Voices.

Learn more and plan your visit at jamescastlehouse.org.

07/15/2025

Since arriving in May, Summer Resident Ariana Martinez has been transforming the James Castle House studio into a space of sensory exploration and deep listening.

Through writing, printmaking, and audio experiments, the work Ariana has created during their stay invites us to reimagine how we come to know a place, and how we might create new access points into both our physical surroundings and interior worlds.

Echoing James Castle’s own practice of careful observation, Ariana has found inspiration in the Boise River, capturing extensive field recordings that offer meditations on presence, time, and ecology. Their work also reflects lived experiences with chronic illness, the disorientation and reorientation of existing in the spaces “in between”: past and future, sleep and wakefulness, inside and outside.

A big thank you to Boise State Public Radio for featuring Ariana earlier this week on Idaho Matters! Take a listen here:

Since May, the James Castle House artist has been exploring the different ways we come to know a place and navigate our surroundings.