BY KAREN BOSSICK

The rich tradition of Jewish folktales—with their religion, horror and superstition--serve as the inspiration for Inez Storer’s latest body of work, which has come to Gail Severn Gallery from the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco.

It will be among the exhibitions that can be viewed during the March Gallery Walk from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, March 9.

Storer, a California artist, was among the artists selected to be part of an exhibit called “Jewish Folktales Retold: Artist as Maggids”  The works leaned on the writings of Howard Schwartz’s 2009 anthology “Leaves from the Garden of Eden: One Hundred Classic Jewish Tales” to explore such concepts as transformation, metamorphosis, power, the degrees of good and evil, ethics and moral education, illusions and metaphors.

The maggid in Hebrew tradition is a religious teacher and teller of stories who acts as repositories and transmitters of cultural knowledge and folklore. Sometimes they are considered angels who reveal mystical secrets to the chosen few.

The Contemporary Jewish Museum invited Storer and fellow contemporary artists to act as modern maggids, interpreting traditional Jewish folktales and characters in an effort to offer new insights to 21^st century audiences.

Inez Storer has exhibited at museums throughout the country, including the National Museum of Jewish History, and she’s received a prestigious appointment as Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome.

She offers the aspect of implied history through the use of figure and objects from her own collections to produce a combination of autobiographical and fictional references.

HERE ARE SOME OF THE OTHER HIGHLIGHTS YOU’LL SEE IN FRIDAY’S GALLERY WALK:

MOUNTAIN IMAGES GALLERY, in the Courtyard at 360 East Avenue—James Bourret is showing new prints from recent travels to the Tetons, California’s Mt. Tamalpais and Muir Woods, Utah’s Canyonlands and Arizona’s Canyon de Chelly, while serving up a section of dark beers.

GILMAN CONTEMPORARY, 661 Sun Valley Road—Just in time for Easter, Gilman is showing Hunt Slonem’s paintings and sculptural works of rabbits, as well as birds and butterflies. Slonem’s works can be found in the permanent collections of 250 museums around the world, including the Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Whitney.

Also showing:  Maria Svarbova’s “In the Swimming Pool” series, which was sparked by her fascination with Soviet Era swimming pools.

GAIL SEVERN GALLERY, 400 First Ave. N.—In addition to Inez Storer’s works, the gallery is showing Rana Rochat’s colorful encaustic paints full of swirls, lines and drips.

The gallery is also devoting its largest gallery space to celebrate Women’s History Month.

Linda Christensen’s figurative paintings dealing with life’s everyday occurrences are being featured, along with Pamela DeTuncq’s taxidermy featuring vintage tapestries, Bean Finneran’s hand-rolled ceramic sculptures, Laura McPhee’s images of the Northwest and India, Jane Rosen’s stone transformed into animals and Julie Speidel’s newest work matching bold colors to her iconic forms influenced by ancient artifacts.

FRIESEN GALLERY, Sun Valley Road at First Avenue—Presenting Ford Crull’s “Monograms + Crossroads.”  The paintings are powerful and beautiful, aesthetic and spiritual. And they convey a genuine sense of mystery and wonder, according to Eleanor Heartney, contributing editor to “Art in America.” Crull will be in attendance during Gallery Walk.

KNEELAND GALLERY, 271 First Avenue N.—Featuring Carl Rowe’s bold Idaho landscapes capturing the rolling foothills and cloud formations  utilizing the unusual medium of alkyd on canvas. Also, John Horejs’s colorful wildflowers and mountain lakes, waterfalls and popular landmarks presented with a signature white border that gives his work a distinct and contemporary feel.

They will be joined by Sun Valley photographer Kevin Syms, who will be showing some of the fine art techniques he is now enhancing his photographs with.

MESH GALLERY, Leaville Avenue and 4^th Street—Showing photographs of local Sun Valley landscapes taken by Ed Cannady, Jeff Lubeck and others.

WOOD RIVER FINE ARTS, 360 East Avenue in the Courtyard—Featuring works of artists from the annual Masters of the American West Show at the Autry Museum in Los Angeles.

FREDERIC BOLOIX FINE ARTS in the Galleria at 4^th and Leadville streets—Featuring the fantastical imagery  of Cuban-born artist Julio Figueroa Beltrain with his highway overpasses submerged with jellyfish, along with works by such Latin American artists as Jose Bedia and Gustavo Acosta.

BROSCHOFSKY GALLERIES, 360 East Avenue in The Courtyard—Featuring the works of Western artists ranging from Edward Curtis to Theodore Villa and Russell Young with his Hollywood screen prints glittering with diamond dust.

SUN VALLEY CENTER FOR THE ARTS, 191 Fifth St. East—Featuring photographs of refugees who have settled in Boise and other works addressing the question of “Whose Land is This Land?”

HARVEY ARTS PROJECTS USA—Featuring “Warmurrungu,” an exhibition of Western Australian artist Nyarapayi Giles.

STONE ART GALLERY, in the Walnut Avenue Courtyard on Sun Valley Road—Featuring art pieces comprised of exotic gem stones, along with vortex agate tabletops and more.