POCATELLO — Nestled along Oak Street in Pocatello lies an unassuming grey building from which a gold sign sits affixed upon one side and displays the words Integrity Body Arts, tattoo and piercing.
For some, a tattoo shop can evoke negative images and associations of a seedy, back-alley parlor with an aura of uncertainty and fear.
While those stereotypes are generally untrue and the industry has made leaps and bounds in terms of its professionalism, Idaho doesn’t have any rules or regulations for tattoo businesses beyond an age limit to open a tattoo or piercing shop.
Thankfully, there are still spaces within Idaho, particularly Pocatello, that hold themselves to a high standard of excellence and continue to set a precedent for quality, cleanliness and creating a warm and welcoming environment. Enter Integrity.
Integrity Body Arts was conceptualized and created by Pocatello resident Kolby Cain, who started body piercing in 2008 and continued to hone his craft working in studios over the next six years. Cain would eventually seek out new horizons and opportunities and decided to open his own studio in 2014.
“When I first started piercing, I noticed how poorly off this town was for quality body modification,” Cain said. “As I progressed through my career, I wanted to bring the best of the best to my hometown. One thing led to another and that turned into education — going every year to conferences and taking classes to bring in nothing but the highest quality jewelry in Idaho.”
Cain continued, “My biggest motivation was to always become a member of the Association of Professional Piercers. I was not going to be able to achieve those goals without doing it myself. That was the main focus of moving on and opening my own studio, to better my career and better the product for Pocatello and East Idaho.”
Following the Association of Professional Piercers guidelines, Integrity is held to a higher standard than most tattoo and piercing shops in Idaho. By continuing to educate themselves, the staff at Integrity are not only knowledgeable but practice safe standards.
“I’ve gone to attend conferences and that’s just something that no one else in the area is doing,” Cain said. “We spore test all our autoclaves, we are held to a higher standard by the Association of Professional Piercers with our jewelry standards. We have to use implant grade jewelry, we can’t use stuff that’s imported from China or can’t be proved implant grade, which unfortunately, we’re the only ones doing that within like a 300-mile radius.”
Part of any studio’s success can be directly tied to the various artists associated with the shop. The tattoo artists and piercers each have their own unique styles and skills, along with their clientele who return time and time again to get more ink and body modifications.
“I wanted (employees) that had definitely been through a proper apprenticeship,” Cain said. “Someone who is not stealing art from the internet or Google Images. Everyone here is a custom artist and has the ability to draw their own art and work with customers. They’re dependable. The word integrity says a lot and I think everyone here has that.”
Tattoo artists such as Ben Bolin, who has an extensive history of tattooing in the area since 2004 and has been tattooing for 18 years, are an integral part of Integrity by maintaining a level of expertise and trust with the customer base.
“I focus on more traditional base tattooing,” Bolin said. “Everything from Americana to some Japanese work. I’ve spent a lot of years studying and a lot of time just trying to focus on what makes a good tattoo, having a strong foundation, strong artwork. Good contrast to a design, something that’s going to look nice but also age well.”
Bolin continued, “That’s important and especially in this day and age, I think there’s a lot of unexperienced tattoo artists approaching it with the idea of following a trend, following a fad. That’s not necessarily always something that’s good for something that’s permanent. It’s important to understand how to apply the tattoo, how it’s going to age and that’s a big focus for me. I’d rather educate the client, as opposed to just agreeing to it, taking the money and slapping it on.”
Over the six years that Bolin has been involved with Integrity he has continued to educate himself and grow, continually expanding his art.
“It’s about constant progression,” Bolin said. “I think that should apply no matter where you’re at. Making sure that you never plateau, keep progressing and just being at your best.”
For body art piercers such as Sean Yardy, who has been with the business for over two years and become a member of the Association of Professional Piercers earlier this year, there is a familiar connection with Integrity and what it stands for.
“I always knew what (Cain) was doing over here and the level that he was doing it at,” Yardy said. “Being the only person that has brought quality piercing into Pocatello, I’d always admired that about him. He’s always been somebody I looked up to for a lot of reasons but really for changing the entire industry as far as this region. I felt pretty confident coming (to work) here. We always have clientele, just because of the reputation that we’ve carried for 10 years now.”
Yardy understands the importance of having a foundation of good quality jewelry, sterile tools and a clean space in which to work. Those standards align with the vision of Integrity and the expectations of everyone that works there.
“There’s not really anything keeping somebody from just throwing up an open sign and to start putting holes in people,” Yardy said. “We want to give people good quality piercings and be able to be here to guide and help people through the healing process, because that’s often the most difficult part.”
Yardy continued, “Getting pierced is relatively easy, but healing is the challenge and if you’re just out there on Reddit or online looking through all these people’s opinions about piercings, a lot of the time you can end up doing more damage than anything. It’s good to have somebody that you can come to as a resource and help you get through that healing process, especially when you’re inexperienced as far as getting piercings.”
For other tattoo artists such as Whitney Leith, who has been creatively immersed in animation, comic books and illustration for years, the opportunity to become a tattoo artist presented another avenue for creative expression.
“(Integrity) definitely has a focus on art as far as tattoos go and on the piercing side of things as well,” Leith said. “I feel like there’s a lot of focus on traditions behind it and (putting in effort). I think sometimes people get into stuff for the wrong reasons and I see all the right reasons here. I think it’s a good environment. Whenever somebody comes in, they always comment on how much art and how much there is to look at here. I like that it feels like an art gallery as much as it feels like a tattoo shop.”
Cherise Farmer and Jason Sexton were recently announced as featured tattoo artists for Integrity and will spend the rest of 2024 as guest artists at the shop. These special additions to the studio are something that is fairly consistent at Integrity, bringing in fresh ideas and new styles.
For Cain, there is a desire to keep pushing forward and a willingness to be at the forefront of where the industry is. Proving the newest and safest techniques along with the quality one would expect from a body art business.
“Every day we’re researching jewelry,” Cain said. “We’re looking at new companies, we’re testing new products, new techniques. The evolution of body modification is really what keeps me going.”
Cain continued, “We like to be inclusive to everyone. We like to treat everyone with the respect that they deserve. Sometimes going into a tattoo shop is extremely scary and nerve wracking, and you’re not sure how you’d be treated. We’d like to change the spirit of that perspective, especially about the people that run the front counter and greet you and treat you like you’re worthy. The customer service aspect is huge in our industry and it starts there. The most important factor really is customer service.”
Cain is simply appreciative of the support he’s received after nearly a decade managing Integrity Body Art and is excited for the future and its limitless potential.
“Thank you for the support,” Cain said. “This will be our 10th anniversary this fall. We’ve been nothing but supported by our community and we couldn’t be more thankful to be in Pocatello with the chance to offer this to everyone. We hope for another 10 years. It’s been a great ride. Thank everyone for supporting us.”
For more information on Integrity you can visit its website, integritybodyarts.com .
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