BOISE - It's a million-dollar discovery made right here in Boise: Never-before-seen artwork found during the restoration of the James Castle House.
Castle, who died in 1977, is a world-renowned artist who created his art using found materials like soot and spit.
The city has been restoring his home, which is in the Pierce Park neighborhood, to honor the late artist. Crews were aware there was small chance they could come across some artwork during the restoration process, but when they did find art they were in shock.
“Opened up the wall and it wasn't immediately apparent what it was,” said, Byron Folwell, project architect. “There was dark fabric over the top a lot of cobwebs that sort of thing. Once we pulled the wall panel a little more open everything sort of fell out and that's when it was clear it was artwork.”
The art had been there for about 60 years, Folwell said.
“Who knows if Castle intended for anyone to ever find these pieces, but we're incredibly lucky that we did," he said.
Lucky because it was an accidental find. While crews were looking for stud locations, they found the 11 pieces of never-before-seen James Castle works.
“The overall collection is valued at $1.1 million,” said Rachel Reichert, James Castle House manager.
The art also helps with the completion of the restoration project. Since the start, they've been using Castle's existing artwork to recreate the space as best they could.
“This particular piece is on the very wall that he was rendering,” Reichert said. “You notice two doors on either side of the artwork, if you look at the overall space you'll notice these are the two original doors that are appearing in that artwork.”
One of the pieces recently discovered gave them an even clearer picture of the original James Castle House.
"Almost like a present to us,” Folwell said. “A picture of the house here. This is one of the best pieces that came out of the collection.”
The city has been working on this for years and now they are just putting some finishing touches on it.
The house has a gallery space, an artist in residence program and a store.
The grand opening for the house is April 28.