STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

The creatives who hit Idaho’s River of No Return this past month had an itinerary like no other, built around the Salmon River.

Plunge, the day they launched, was about the leap into the unknown and exploring things outside their comfort zone.

Pour, on day two, involved pouring in new ideas, information and skills.

Those who took part in TwoToes’ raft trip down the Salmon River painted this kayak, which can be seen at the Sun Valley Museum of Arts.

Deep End was a day for reflection.

Flow on the fourth day was about settling into a rhythm.

Soak, on the fifth day, was about absorbing the special community they had built, which gave each the freedom to be themselves.

And Ripple, on the last day, was designed to explore how they could let the feeling of connectedness they established on the river radiate outwards into other parts of their lives.

Ketchum artist Jini Griffith captured the essence of salmon spawning near Redfish Lake in this painting.

“The last day of the trip felt less like an ending and more like a beginning,” wrote MacFarlane and  Schlossberg. “Our adventure on the river was only the start of a much larger journey—one towards creativity, connectedness and a life spent feeling alive.”

That river trip, and all that was embodied in it, serves as the inspiration for the “Idaho Rivers/Idaho Artists” exhibition currently on exhibit at the Sun Valley Museum of Art, Fifth and Washington streets in Ketchum.

The kayak that rafters painted can be seen hanging from the ceiling, and art and prose made during the trip adorns the walls.

“The soul of the river deep as the canyon wide you can try to fight it but she knows where you’ll hide,” starts a song that Ali Goodman and Andrew McKean wrote.

Pam Street says she is trying to put more hardware in her plein air paints, such as this one of the Perrine Bridge over the Snake River Canyon near Twin Falls.

“The moment I got in the raft and floated away from the road, I had a spark of inspiration,” Kika MacFarlane told those who assembled for a look at the exhibition last week. “All of a sudden the noise is gone.”

The trip included a nighttime float back to camp under millions of stars after an evening hike to hot springs.

“We ended up with a lot of nature-inspired art but also a lot of words on life,” added Tala Schlossberg, co-collaborator at TwoToes, which organized the Idea Camp for creatives to connect on the Main Salmon River.

The exhibition “Idaho Rivers/Idaho Artists” features 33 works that were selected from more than 110 applicants. Many are local artists.

Kika MacFarlane and Tara Schlossberg co-founded TwoToes, a design and animation studio that also organizes Idea Camps for creatives to come together.

MacFarlane said it was emotional to walk into a space with so many different interpretations of Idaho’s rivers, including a few interpretations of river in non-literal ways.

But, alas, you’ll have to be quick to see them as the exhibition runs just two weeks, ending Sept. 28.

The Sun Valley Museum of Art is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Admission is free.