Peter Lovera in the Village at Meridian
One of the unique features of Boise Co-op Village will be our photo mosaic above our Deli area. The mosaic will run all along the wall behind the 4’ x 4’ menu boards in the Deli. The initial concept for the photos was a collection of portraits of people in the Treasure Valley community. After some thought, we settled on landscapes of Idaho—they are unchanging, familiar yet wild, breathtaking, and they evoke a sense of Idaho pride. An easy choice was to use stock photography of Idaho landscapes, but we wanted to make a bigger impact.
This is where photographer Peter Lovera comes in. Lovera is the 2015 artist in residence for the Idaho Conservation League (ICL). According to their website, the artist in residence program was created to expand “how ICL could better share the beauty of the places we work to protect and how we could tell the Idaho story in creative new ways to expanded audiences.” He is spending his residency traveling around Idaho and using his camera to capture the beauty that our state has to offer. He selected 48 photos from his residency for the Boise Co-op to use on our Deli wall mosaic. 25% of the commission for this project will go directly to the Idaho Conservation League.
In his own words: “My Residency at the Idaho Conservation League has taught me to look deeper into nature, not only for wisdom but as a source of Joy. It is my artistic mission to share that joy through my photos while reminding people just how connected and dependent we are to our eco system. The Boise Co-op has been a part of my daily ritual for years (I’m hooked on Maté) and I am so excited to work with them on this project for their exciting new location!”
You can see more of his work and learn about the ICL at http://www.idahoconservation.org/