Westview Community Mural

April 2023 Arts Week Sidewalk Painting

Aug 2020 Consult with City planners on Arts & Culture Community Benefits

Aug 2019 Boulder housing partners mural party with Artist Sally eckert

Sept 2019 Mural reveal community party

Aug 2018 Art and culture as community Benefit: Report

Jan 2018 Urban land institute North Boulder Report

May 2017 The Boulder Comp. Plan is amended to incude arts & culture

Oct 2015 Boulder City Council Candidate Forum on the arts in boulder

OCT 2014 Steampunk halloween party @ The Boulder Armory

APR 2014 Inaugural Arts Week Celebration

Art and Culture as Community Benefit Report

During the summer of 2018 BAM is conducting research to learn from other cities that emphasize art and culture to determine the incentives, zoning issues and other strategies used to create an economically vibrant and sustainable creative / art district. These cities include: Austin, TX, Baltimore, MD, Denver, CO, Miami, FL, Nashville, TN, Seattle, WA. Click for the full report
Citation: Eckert, Sally, Halpern, Madeline, Portman-Marsh, Natalie (2018) Art and Culture as Community Benefit, A Multi-City Inquiry. Boulder Art Matrix.

We believe art and culture can enable better design of higher density development resulting in a more beautiful diverse community. To this end, we advocated for the change to the Boulder Comprehensive Plan to include art and culture as community benefits. After a great deal of advocacy, research and listening, the Boulder Comprehensive Plan has been amended to include Arts and Culture as Community benefits!

What does this mean to you? Entertainment Zones:

New development in your neighborhood can reflect the culture of that neighborhood
Affordable housing projects can be enhanced by murals and public art
Developers will have a way to build in pedestrian areas, public art spaces, pocket parks and other neighborhood perks
The City of Boulder has tools to help implement sub-community plans that emphasize art and culture

North Boulder Technical Assistance Panel (TAP): Facilitated by the Urban Land Institute Report

Sponsored by a Boulder Art Matrix Grant awarded from the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) in partnership with the North Boulder Creative Community, the city of Boulder and Wild Sage Co-housing Community

The Urban Land Institute Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) was asked to focus on the new North Boulder Art District designation. A TAP’s recommendations are designed to help communities take decisive action. There are many emerging opportunities to infuse intentional placemaking to attract visitors to the area, create affordable options for artists, and increase cohesion of the district identity.

Recommendations for North Boulder include: Short-term strategies:

Build momentum of local leaders to lead a community engagement process for defining a vision and identity for the art district. This outreach should also help to strengthen the participation of a broader stakeholder group to support local art and placemaking efforts.
Use tactical urbanism, such as painted crosswalks and wayfinding, node activation with food trucks, and interactive projection art, to begin to knit together the district.
Foster frequent activation and programming, focusing on smaller scale, more frequent activations as opposed to large scale, one-off events.
Work with city staff to ensure that existing and ongoing infrastructure projects include art enhancements that will strengthen the character and legibility of the district.
Give clear direction to developers, letting them know what the community wants by giving them the art district’s top priorities, such as live/work space, galleries, and community art venues.

Thank you to our local leaders from the city, private and non-profit community, as well as the expert panel:
- Panel Chair: Rick Petersen, Principal of OZ Architecture
- Bill Parkhill, Managing Member of Tributary Real Estate and Parkhill Development
- Jamie Licko, President of RiNo Arts District and Founder and President of Centro
- Sarah Nurmela, Real Estate & Development Manager for the City of Westminster
- Bill Marino, Executive Director of Lakewood-West Colfax BID and Board Chair of 40 West Arts District
- Daniel Guimond, Principal of Economic & Planning Systems

Boulder City Council Candidate Forum

A moderated panel discussion was held to introduce candidates for Boulder City Council. The City of Boulder has reached a critical point in its ability to maintain its reputation as a cultural destination and home for artists and creative industries. The candidates shared their views on the role art and culture plays in the vibrancy of our town. [View/read transcript.]

Hosted by Boulder Art Matrix and Boulder County Arts Alliance.