Arts & Culture

Sun Valley’s Diverse Arts & Culture Scene

You might not expect a small mountain town in the middle of Idaho to be an oasis of arts and culture, but then again Sun Valley is known for differing from expectations. Sun Valley is one of America’s top small towns for art. With more than a dozen galleries, several live theater companies, the lauded Writers’ Conference, the Sun Valley Film Festival, free summer symphony concerts in the Sun Valley Pavilion, and one of the West’s premier nonprofit arts organizations, the Sun Valley Museum of Art Sun Valley packs an enormous cultural punch for its size.

Blogs and Videos

Art Galleries and Museums

Sun Valley has more art galleries and museums than you could see if you spent a whole year here! So we’ve added a direct link to the directory of them all below.

Performing Arts

From ballet to abstract improv, Sun Valley has a live performance to keep you entertained.

Theater performance

Live Music

Ketchum and Sun Valley have a variety of venues and get some great musicians as they stop in on their cross country tours. From big name concerts at the resort to the local favorite Ketch’em Alive free music every Tuesday in Forest Service Park there will be something to get ya grooving. Be sure to check our calendar for Jazz in the Park, live music at the Limelight Hotel, and various music festivals.

Sawtooth Valley Gathering

Classes and Hands-on Experiences

Whether its cooking up something in the kitchen or throwing some clay on the potters wheel Ketchum has classes to keep your creative side going while on vacation. You could even make your own bowl to eat your new culinary masterpiece out of!

Movies and Film

Just because you are in the wild Gothic mountains of Idaho don’t think that you will miss out on the latest release or the most talked about indie film. With a history of all-time classic movies having been shot here (“How To Marry A Millionaire” starring Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, and Lauren Bacall, for one), an Idaho film-making revival underway, and a host of stars-in-occasional-residence (Clint Eastwood, Scott Glenn and Arnold Schwarzeneggerall reside in Sun Valley part time), cinema lovers are actually in their element here.

Pavilion lecture

Lectures

Brain candy and wise words from the likes of Sir Salman Rushdie, David Sedaris, Gloria Steinem, Garrison Keillor, and E.O. Wilson are up for grabs with year-round lectures, readings and the highly rated Sun Valley Writers’ Conference.

As you might be able to tell there is more arts and culture in our small mountain town than you could find in most large cities! We are blessed to have this diversity in our community and hope you get a taste of it on your visit. Be sure to keep an eye out for our events calendar as performances are constantly being added.

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