Art & Culture

CCDC sees public art as an essential element to the vitality of Boise's downtown, one that contributes to the inviting sense of place CCDC seeks to achieve. Each of CCDC's urban renewal plans calls for a commitment to public art as part of its revitalization efforts. Consistent with these plans, CCDC has become one of the primary sources of funding for public art in Boise since 1978. These investments are guided by CCDC's Cultural Investments Policy and the recent Downtown Arts & Culture Plan.

CCDC has provided partial or full funding for the creation of numerous public artworks for downtown Boise, listed in these pages. Funding partners have included Boise City, developers and local businesses.

It has long been suspected that the arts, especially the performing arts, contribute to the economic vitality of a city--now we know just how much. With CCDC funding, Boise participated in a nationwide study performed by Americans for the Arts to quantify the economic impact of the arts. The results for Boise (information gathered in 200-2001) are available for download: Arts and Economic Prosperity in Boise. The report was updated in 2007 with information from 2005, with even more interesting results: the earlier report showed that the nonprofit arts were an $18 million industry in Boise; in 2005 the impact had grown to over $38 million. Download the Current Arts and Economic Prosperity document.