From ‘tragedy’ to ‘feel-good story’: Boiseans step up after artist’s studio is ransacked
When Sue Latta drove up to her art studio Sunday morning along Front Street in Boise, she knew something was off. Her air conditioning unit was in the parking lot and the lights inside were on.
Latta walked inside to find that her private studio was ransacked.
“The whole place was trashed” she said. “Somebody came in and lost their mind.”
Much of her studio was damaged — saws broken, tables overturned, liquid rubber poured on the ground — and she wasn’t sure what to make of it. Boise police officers were called to the studio and documented the scene, dusting for fingerprints and analyzing shoe prints left in the liquid rubber on the floor. Latta said police weren’t even quite sure what to make of it.
Latta — a Boise resident for 28 years, and one of the people who successfully sued the state of Idaho over a same-sex marriage ban — shared the damage to her studio on Facebook, where she posted a video showing ladders, wood and art pieces among the debris.
Despite the damage, Latta told the Statesman that she can’t help but feel encouraged after receiving support from the community. Just as officers left, Latta said numerous friends were there to lend a hand, furious at what they saw online and wanting to help out.
“The outpouring has been overwhelming,” Latta said. “I can’t even keep up with it.”
She said an estimated cost for the damages has been hard to determine, but it was safe to say the number is in the thousands. One friend was so heartbroken that Latta said he started a fundraising campaign online. The initial goal was $3,000, but the fundraiser had more than $21,000 in donations as of Wednesday evening.
Latta was nearly done preparing for an upcoming art show in downtown Boise when the vandalism occurred. The damages are not enough to derail Latta’s display, which is debuting today, Aug. 6, at the Capitol Contemporary Gallery located at 451 S. Capitol Blvd.
She said some repairs were made to certain pieces, but other works will hang as they are, damage and all.
The random act of vandalism is still difficult to process.
“Who breaks art? It’s so hard to fathom,” Latta said.
Latta said she believes the vandalism was more random than anything, and not a hate crime. Four Idaho couples, including Latta and Traci Ehlers, sued the state in federal court in 2013 to challenge laws banning same-sex marriage and denying recognition of same-sex marriages conducted in other states. They won the case in 2014.
The longtime Boise artist is already back working in her studio, she said, trying to regain a sense of normalcy. The massive community support has made that a bit easier.
“I think it’s turned from a tragedy in the moment, and it’s now a feel-good story,” Latta said. “The love is really making up for all this.”
This story was originally published August 6, 2020 at 2:35 PM.
