The Sun Valley Summer Symphony is the largest privately funded symphony in the United States. For three weeks the Symphony’s free classical music concerts are the center of social life in Sun Valley. Friends & families join forces, pack delectable picnic spreads and flock to the Sun Valley Pavilion for one of the area’s quintessential summer experiences. Well-seasoned patrons know that there a few tricks to maximizing your symphony experience. We’ve tapped in to a few of those secrets and compiled an insider’s guide to the Sun Valley Summer Symphony to make your experience the best it can be.

When some people think of Sun Valley, it’s any guess what comes to mind, but one image the might catch one unexpectedly by the scruff of the neck, is the very real and very rad young artist community which calls this place home.  Forget the image of Golden Girls meets Lawrence Welk in the mountains, we’ve got it going on. Being an artist in Sun Valley sounds about like nirvana, except living here has its challenges, like getting by.  Which is the theme of a now in its third installment art show, Death to Day Jobs which is about creating that escape from working the daily grind in paradise.  It’s about getting elevated to a higher level of paradise which sounds like a fantasy role playing game… but whatever.  The art and artists not to mention super fun group that comes out for this show each year makes it without a doubt the place to be.  All cozied up at Ochi Gallery on Lewis Street you will catch a beer buzz and revel in the hum of creativity, ironic eyeglasses, body ink, and people who look like the belong in the city, living life in the rad lane right here in Sun Valley.  So be there, tonight, July 3rd at OCHI Gallery on Lewis Street, 7:00 pm sharp!

Sun Valley via NYC Gordon Stevenson aka “Baron Von Fancy” takes a few moments to talk about his local roots.   From across the brightly lit room, an object of deep familiarity snags my eye.  It’s as though I am a trout having an atavistic response to something in the water ahead.  A connection to childhood synapse, I can almost hear the sound of canned audience applause, a beautiful yet overdone hostess turns a card as a Pat lets out a familiar, “Do we have an ‘S’ ?” and so I am introduced to the work of Gordon Stevenson, aka Baron Von Fancy.  A throwback Wheel of Fortune photo evokes a sense of Americana, the phrase peeled back by Vanna revealing more about Stevenson’s work as you dive in and begin to get it.  This installation spans mediums but the impression that is left behind is a tie to the past, making things old new again and slathering it with a cheeky sense of fun, romance and occasionally, irony. Life’s simple pleasures. Stevenson has that side dialed.   Baron Von Fancy represents the side of Stevenson which commercializes his art, and the success of this work has landed him collaborations …

For four glorious days here in Sun Valley, the wine flowed like beer, the beautiful women instinctively flocked like the steelhead of Stanley, Idaho and some serious funding to foster future arts and humanities opportunities for the Wood River Valley was raised. The 32nd annual Wine Auction Weekend invited attendees to partake in copious amounts of world renown vino varietals, mouth watering bites from the valley’s finest culinary experts, and boot stomping live entertainment. While the long weekend showcased a wide variety of wine induced events, two major spectacles took center stage. Friday night played host to the Wine Auction Gala where, “high spirits, great wine, superb food, good company, and a little friendly competition” melded together for some serious fund raising.

The 4th of July weekend brought an alien invasion of sorts to the Sun Valley area this year with the arrival of the second edition of the MASSV Music Festival.  The Music and Arts Showcase Sun Valley's (MASSV) vibe permeated the air from the Trail Creek parking lot filling the town's street with throngs of youth wearing costumes which no doubt turned many a head in our typically conservative little town.  As the day turned to evening you could hear the excitement building with the thump of bass which gave way to night.

Chatham Baker (L) and Andy McCabe (R) Twist and Pout outside Ochi for their "Not Bad" exhibition.   Around these parts you can get a lot of action in before the sun sets for the day. It was a dream-like Friday and it felt like we all had senioritis all over again.  Staring out the window at work, the 5 o'clock whistle could not come early enough.  When it rang we went straight to the garages, grabbed the dirt bikes, geared up and took off. Within four hours we had covered half of Blaine County's trails and found ourselves walking into Ochi Gallery for our buddies', Chatham and McCabe's, Gallery Debut. Nate Farrell (Smith Optics Snowboard Team Manager) and the infinitely entertaining Chris Johnston   DJ Zeb? Anything is possible, my friends continue to amaze me.   Walking into the gallery the world could not have changed more dramatically in the matter of a few steps.  From the woods to the refined space of Ochi Gallery, it was like taking a shower in light and art. Zeb was spinning (I didn't even know he had yet another talent) and outside an unlikely group of troubadours picked endlessly through a broad …