Freak Alley is a venue for public art in the form of murals and graffiti located in and adjacent to a service alley in downtown Boise, Idaho. The largest outdoor gallery in the Northwest,[1][2] and a Boise institution since 2002,[3] it began with a painting of a single alley doorway and now extends from the alley itself to a gravel parking lot.[4] Extant murals painted over and replaced by new murals (or incorporated into them) every two years;[5] collectively it is the work of more than 200 artists.[6] It has featured prominently in a survey of ten mid-sized American cities with thriving artistic communities in which Boise ranked second.[7] The site, along with the back of the Union Block, received a $500,000 renovation in 2018 from the city.[8]

The Freak Alley parking lot, looking south from W. Bannock St.
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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Boise 'Freaks' paint the town – Arbiter Online". Archived from the original on 2016-01-31. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
  2. ^ "Freak Alley and Boise's Public Art | For 91 Days in Idaho – Travel Blog". Idaho.for91days.com. 2013-01-07. Retrieved 2014-02-27.
  3. ^ Hagadone, Zack (2013). "Freaks and Fish". Boise Weekly. 22 (7): 39.
  4. ^ "Freak Alley Gallery Breathes Life Into Boise's Art Scene". Boise State Public Radio. 2012-08-14. Retrieved 2014-02-27.
  5. ^ Gross, Josh (2012-08-12). "Slideshow: Freak Alley Gallery Debuts 76 New Murals | Cobweb". Boiseweekly.com. Retrieved 2014-02-27.
  6. ^ Ross, Winston (2018-03-25). "Freak Alley". Newsweek. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  7. ^ "The 10 Most Artistic Mid-Sized Cities in America". GogoBot. 2015-11-17. Archived from the original on 2015-11-21.
  8. ^ Webb, Anna (2017-09-13). "Will half a million dollars improve these 2 Downtown alleys, or wreck their cool factor?". Idaho Statesman. Retrieved 2017-09-13.
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