The Flying M’s annual Valentine for AIDS is a mosaic of community. It’s generative, big-hearted, inspiring, inclusive and essential to Boise’s cultural life.
So much so that when longtime Flying M manager Kent Collins bought the funky Downtown coffeehouse in July, he had no doubt that Valentine For AIDS — now in its 19th year — would go on as always.
“This really brings our community and our customers together. People have been talking about it since Christmas,” Collins says. “It’s something that this town needs.”
It opens on First Thursday, Feb. 2. The silent auction bidding goes until 4 p.m. Feb. 12.
More than 250 artists, from professional to novice, donated work in a staggering variety of media to benefit the Safety Net for AIDS Program (SNAP). It provides financial support for people with HIV/AIDS.
TONY RIOS
Los Angeles-born artist Tony Rios moved to Idaho a few years ago and has strived to make a piece for Valentine For AIDS each year. This is his fourth.
The event is important to him, he says, because a good friend died of AIDS. Rios spent his last week with him.
“It was really shocking, and it stuck with me,” Rios says. “It’s interesting to me how things we can’t see can kill us. My wife is a nurse, and when I started working on the painting I realized that I didn’t know what the AIDS virus looks like. We looked at it through a microscope and now I know. Turns out we only see it when we’re faced with it. So, in the painting those are blood cells floating around in the piece, and he is kicking the AIDS virus. That’s what I hope we can do.”
JULIA GREEN
Illustration artist Julia Green grew up in Boise and recently graduated from Boise State.
She draws editorials for the Boise Weekly and Bicycle Times Magazine, sings backup in A Seasonal Disguise and works at Pie Hole during the day. This is her fourth Valentine for AIDS.
“It’s a fun theme for a show. People have so many different opinions about love and Valentine’s Day. I’m a lighthearted person. I don’t need to make this serious social statement.”
MARILYN COSHO
The imaginary world of fairies fascinates artist and photographer Marilyn Cosho. It started when she was a child and continues to captivate her through her art. One of her passions of the retired teaching assistant is building miniature fairy furniture from twigs and other found flora culled from her backyard. For this year’s Valentine For AIDS, she made a whimsical Fairy Bench, which she imagines is a kind of forest creature that invites a fairy couple to take their rest and fall in love among its branches.
“I always put a bracelet on each piece because they’re almost like people for me, so it’s like ornamentation,” she says.
KELLIE COSHO
Painter Kellie Cosho, Marilyn’s mother, switched gears a few years ago from traditional subjects of birds and flowers to bright, colorful abstracted images inspired by her memory and emotions. Cosho has donated a piece for about 10 or 12 Valentine for AIDS over the years, she says.
“I don’t think too much when I’m working. The pieces just come together. This series all look like minerals to me, so I’ve named them all after different minerals. In the center is Fatima’s hand. I spent a lot of time in Egypt and Palestine, and I like hands. I put all sorts of things in them. This one has a heart, so I chose it for Valentine for AIDS.”
MARY BUTLER
Mary Butler majored in art in college but ended up not pursuing it as her career, distracted by jobs, marriage and kids. Butler works in Macy’s display department and is a dedicated art mom at Cynthia Mann Elementary.
“(Valentine for AIDS) got me creating again about 10 years ago. I look forward to it every year,” she says.
Butler likes to work in three dimensions. This year, she painted and beaded a pair of Dutch wooden clogs she found at a garage sale.
“My art usually is whimsical and filled with bright color combinations and patterns,” she says.
For Butler, this is a family affair. Her husband, Idaho Statesman photographer Chris Butler, and their son. Finley, 11, also create art for Valentine for AIDS.
© 2012 Idaho Statesman
