Professional & Leadership Development: Book Review

It’s Your Ship
Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy
By Captain D. Michael Abrashoff

Ilya’s Review:

In the five years since this book has been published, many other business books have tried and failed to capture the true essence of leadership. Captain Abrashoff’s “It’s Your Ship” nails it perfectly for the ages and I strongly recommend this book for anyone at any stage of their career.

Abrashoff explores the finer points of leading and managing an organization while confronting rapid change. Furthermore he describes the highest point of all leadership: converting disinterested and average employees into Top Performers that consistently produce winning results. His strategies and approach are very powerful in today’s economy. Also, keep in mind these aren’t just words, he actually did it, Abrashoff shows the actions behind the message on how his team went from worst to first and then stayed at the top.

I found the book enjoyable to read and I appreciate the author’s willingness to share his personal growth over the course of his career. He candidly discussed overcoming some of his vulnerabilities and insecurities while becoming a top leader; its proof that top leaders should never stop learning about themselves and the team around them.

Captain D. Michael Abrashoff’s website: http://www.grassrootsleadership.com/

Written By: Ilya Kucherenko, Professional & Leadership Development Work-Team

Local Artist Interview: BYP Night at Boise Art Museum

For an artist with the domain name “steelsue.com”, Susan Latta is anything but cold and sterile like the metal from which she gets her moniker. In fact, with the attention she’s gotten from the Boise Weekly, Idaho Statesman, and a selection as one of the twenty five featured artists at this year’s Triennial, you might say her career is heating up.

Latta’s statement on her website tells the reader as much about her as it does her art. “Each piece seems to become what it wanted to be all along,” says Latta. “I am simply the tool that allows it to get there.”

With a perspective like that, it’s not surprising that Latta’s interest in art seems just as predestined. “I took a photography class in college,” says Latta. “The teacher looked at one of my photos and said ‘This is a photographer’s photograph’. That's all it took, I changed my major from psychology to art. And now many years later, artmaking is still something that I can't not do.”

Latta is mostly known for her mixed-media sculptures that include a myriad of different materials including resin, aluminum, rubber, and latex, just to name a few. Though she is a prolific sculptor, Latta does work in other mediums such as printmaking and photography. “I am at the beginning of the next phase of my career,” says Latta.

Like most artists in the area, Latta has seen a lot of change lately in Boise’s art scene, mentioning the Visual Arts Collective specifically as a boon for the city. “The VAC [features] artists who don’t necessarily get shown in mainstream galleries,” says Latta. “It is also a place where artists gather.”

However, again like many other local artists, Latta sees room for further change. “I would like to see more collectors,” says Latta. “Also, an audience that is more open to edgy work.”

Career or not, Latta is a true artist at heart, believing that arts in a community are what make the community interesting. “I make art for people to live with,” Latta says on her website. “To enrich their lives as a unique aesthetic experience.”

Talking with Latta, one gets the impression that, behind the imposing sculptures and molten alloys, she might be a closet Taoist. One thing is for sure, Latta’s success is anything but happenstance. Check out Latta’s art at the aforementioned http://www.steelsue.com/ or experience it in person at the Triennial this Tuesday at BYP’s Night at the Boise Art Museum.

Written by Blake Bowyer, BYP Marketing & Development Work-Team

BYP Night at Boise Art Museum

No animals will come alive next Tuesday, but the art might! Don't miss this chance to attend a private event at the Boise Art Museum on Tuesday, Sept 18 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. RSVP's are due by Tuesday, September 18 at noon. The museum will open just for BYP members and their guests for a cocktail reception with several top leaders in business and the arts.

Attendees will be able to enjoy a private viewing of the 2007 Idaho Trienniel exhibit, a statewide juried art exhibit that only occurs every 3 years. Leaders in the Boise community will discuss the importance of arts in a community, from both the business and the arts perspective.


Speakers include:

• Joel Hickman - President of KeyBank Idaho


• Michael Faison - Executive Director, Idaho Commission on the Arts


• Wesley Jessup - Executive Director, Boise Art Museum

Cost is $15 BYP members/$25 for non-members and includes admission to the event and appetizers. A no-host bar will be available.

According to Arts & Culture Chair, Larissa Lamson, "BYP has really outdone itself this time! BYP members don't want to miss this chance to meet such key people in our community, plus the chance to mingle with other BYP members in an awesome setting."

BYP is fortunate to have the support of the local business and arts community members. The BYP Night at Boise Art Museum is sponsored by KeyBank and hosted by the Boise Art Museum.

To register for this special event click on this link: BYP Night at BAM.

Local Artist Interview - BYP Night at Boise Art Museum

Art isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of Idaho. In many forms art has existed somewhere in the Gem State’s subconscious for a while now, always present but not prominent. However, with recent efforts by the Boise Art Museum (BAM), Mayor David Bieter, the Boise City Arts Commission (BCAC), and local business owners, the local art scene is experiencing its own renaissance. On the heels of the unveiling and development of several major art installations is BAM’s Triennial, where artists from all over Idaho take center stage every three years.

Many of the artists selected for this year’s event call the Boise Metropolitan Area their home and have watched the area and its arts develop during the past decade. They have seen the impact of art on Boise and Boise on art, and why it is integral to a vibrant and livable community like this one. Leading up to the Triennial, you will find blurbs in your inboxes featuring local artists and their stories regarding Boise and art. Get to know the people who are influencing the way our area is seen across the nation and check out their art in person with other BYPers September 18.

Angela Katona-Batchelor

For someone whose career profile test suggested “forest logger”, Angela Katona-Batchelor has taken advantage of an art inclination from an early age. “I guess artist wasn’t an option on that test,” says Katona-Batchelor.

Katona-Batchelor has been involved in the Boise art scene for five years. She came to the City of Trees from Twin Falls, a move that she says shifted her concept of art and its boundaries. “I was accustomed to seeing traditional materials and subject matter and much of the work I was exposed to here didn’t fit into that category,” says Katona-Batchelor. “I think that the development of more alternative art spaces in Boise, like the Visual Arts Collective, only helps to educate the public about what is happening in the contemporary art scene.”

Still, Katona-Batchelor would like to see more public art pieces, because she feels it adds to the daily lives of those who are exposed to it. She believes the movement is heading in the right direction and sees the difficulties of introducing new concepts to an exisiting market. “Art is a hard sell … some art takes a long time to reach people and to develop an audience that will support it.”


Katona-Batchelor considers herself a mixed media artist and works in, among others, painting, drawing, sculpting, and printmaking to find the medium that best suits an idea conceptually. “I try not to be exclusive to any particular media simply for the sake of loyalty. To me, every medium has a specific language ascribed to it that can inform meaning,” says Katona-Batchelor.

The Boise art scene is happy to have her and glad she decided to pick up a pencil and a paintbrush instead of an ax. Katona-Batchelor has recently been viewed at the Visual Arts Collective and she will be one of the 25 artists whose work will be on display at the Triennial.

Written by Blake Bowyer - BYP Marketing & Development Work-Team