Art gets personal

By Jodi D. Peterson
Executive Director, Interfaith Sanctuary

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Interfaith Sanctuary launches #GetToKnowMe campaign in anticipation of World Homeless Day. Interfaith Sanctuary is excited to partner with local photographer Matthew Wordell for #GetToKnowMe – An Art Exhibit. With this project, which will be unveiled Oct. 10th, Interfaith Sanctuary seeks to connect our community with our guests by sharing their faces, thoughts and dreams through larger-than-life photographs.

#GetToKnowMe will feature 15 Foot Photos hung on walls that run the length of Americana Boulevard, in the Cooper Court Alley and at the Modern Hotel. After the loss of four homeless individuals during one terrible week this summer Wordell, who has previously worked with the homeless population on another photo project, was moved by this great loss and reached out to Interfaith Sanctuary looking for a way to help. He wanted to give our guests a voice and a way to not feel so invisible.

Wordell brought together an amazing team filled with his talented friends, Gracie Bingham (Interview & Copy Editing), Matthew Wordell (Photography & Design), Aaron Rodriguez (Director of Photography), Dusty Aunan (Set Assistant), Henry Johnson (Installation Lead), Marissa Lovell (Marketing & PR). The end result is #GetToKnowMe.

Join us on Thursday, Oct. 10 at 6 p.m. at Cooper Court Alley to take the #GetToKnowMe walking tour, and then meet us at The Modern Hotel for a Q&A with Matthew Wordell and Interfaith Sanctuary’s executive director, Jodi Pe-terson-Stigers.

Wordell is a professional photographer and creative living and working in Boise. Over the years his work has run the gamut from international volcanological documentary projects in the soaring elevations of Guatemala to directing photography for the Treefort Music Festival. To learn more about Matthew Wordell’s work visit visionkitstudio.com.


Word on the Street is a collection of personal narratives, artwork, and poetry published by guests at Interfaith Sanctuary and Shelter in Boise, Idaho. It addresses the stigma of homelessness in and its material consequences for the population. Word on the Street represents the voices of Boise’s homeless community as a counter narrative against misrepresentations of themselves and a call for connection.

Its purpose is to bring awareness to the voices of homeless individuals and hope for motivating others through change. This paper is compiled and maintained by Project Well-being, a day program, at Interfaith Sanctuary and Shelter.

If you have a story about how homelessness, mental health and lack of resources affect you, please feel free to send them to wordonthestreet@interfaithsanctuary.org. If you would like to help the homeless, or fund this paper, please feel free to contact us.

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