More than 350 people joined the Boise Weekly staff at the Idaho State
Historical Museum for the ninth annual Cover Auction on November 17.

Fifty pieces were sold through auction, and at the end of the night, BW
tallied a record total of $17,366 in net proceeds, which exceeded last
year’s previous record by more than $5,000. The entirety of this year’s
proceeds will be injected into the arts community in the coming months
through BW‘s arts grant program, for which arts organizations and individual
artists are eligible to apply.

Each week Boise Weekly publishes the work of local artists on its cover in
lieu of cover material tied to editorial content. Artists are paid $150 for
their original piece and agree to donate the work to BW‘s annual auction
held every November. Since its inception in 2002, BW‘s Cover Auction has
grossed more than $111,000, the proceeds from which have been donated back
into the local arts community through gifts and grants. From 2002 to 2005,
children¹s art programs were the beneficiaries of the auction. In 2006, the
proceeds were awarded to a local artist for a public art installation on the
sidewalk outside Boise Weekly‘s offices. In 2007, Boise Weekly established a
grant program to distribute the funds to arts organizations with a focus on
visual art. In 2009, the $1,000 PJ Dean Grant for individual artists was
added to the program in memory of regular cover contributor PJ Dean.

For more information on BW‘s Cover Auction, including past grantees, please
contact Publisher Sally Freeman at 208-344-2055 or sally@boiseweekly.com.