News Release

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May 25, 2005

James Castle Family Donates Artwork For Exhibit

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A rare, two-sided drawing by Idaho artist and bookmaker James Castle has been loaned by Castle�s nephew, Bob Beach, for the traveling exhibition �James Castle: Icehouse Unto Early Attic, Books and Art.� The exhibit was organized by the Idaho Center for the Book, which is housed at Boise State University.

The soot-and-saliva drawings were created with a stick or twig pen and are on both sides of a flattened matchbox carton. According to exhibit curator and Castle biographer Tom Trusky, the drawing shows Castle�s Garden Valley ranch house porch on one side and the icehouse, the artist�s refuge and secret studio, on the other.

�It�s typical of the artist�s clever approach to subject matter,� Trusky says. �He positions himself at one end of the porch and draws it with the icehouse in the distance. Then he moves 180 degrees and draws the icehouse with the ranch house porch in the distance.�

The rare work, which is approximately 5 by 7 inches, was loaned by Beach to the Idaho Center for the Book in appreciation for the center�s Castle exhibit. Beach is generally regarded as the person who first appreciated Castle�s works as art and helped draw attention to them in the 1950s. Beach recently traveled from his home in Oregon to view the exhibit with his family.

James Castle was an autistic, self-taught artist and bookmaker. He was born in Garden Valley in 1899 and was thought to be deaf, mute, illiterate and mentally challenged. He produced thousands of drawings and illustrations during his life, using tools that he fashioned himself. He died in Boise in 1977.

The exhibit will be on display in Boise State�s Student Union Gallery until June 1.

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Contact: Tom Trusky, English Department, (208) 426-1999, ttrusky@boisestate.edu 

Media Contact: Julie Hahn, University Relations, (208) 426-5540, juliehahn@boisestate.edu

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Last reviewed on Thursday, December 22, 2005