Everyone is creative, and the arts serve everyone.

This is the guiding belief behind ​Catalyst Arts Collaborative​.

Affectionately called “The Cat,” Catalyst Arts Collaborative is an art studio and community space on the Central Bench at 6427 W Ustick Rd in Boise. It’s not exactly a school, but on any given day there’s 4-10 art classes happening inside the space. Pottery, paint, figure drawing, knitting, writing, field trips, meetings for fellow arts organizations. There’s classes for toddlers, kids, teens, and adults.

It’s a creative hub designed to make art accessible to anyone willing to try.

Everyone is creative

Founder Candy Canning has spent more than 20 years teaching, making art, and building arts programming. Before launching The Cat, she founded Art Project Boise (a meetup group for artists of all disciplines) back in 2010 and co-founded the Gem Center for the Arts in 2016, which is where Catalyst Arts Collaborative originally started.

Candy’s goal with The Cat is much bigger than running art classes. She’s building an organization that supports our whole community by providing quality art experiences to both people practicing art and artists teaching art. The space exists to support creatives of all types and all stages – beginners, professionals, kids, retirees, and the “I haven’t done art since middle school” people.

“We’re here to create a catalyst,” said Candy. “How do we create change and provide the arts that I think Boise really needs?”

Inside The Cat

The Cat moved into its current 2,600 square foot space just over two years ago. They outgrew it almost immediately, but they love the neighborhood and are making it work for now.

The space opens with a gift shop featuring work from about 65 artists, most local and some regional, and they highlight a featured artist each month.

When I visited, the featured artist was local artist Kylie Castellaw, who creates books and illustrations about big feelings for families. She has two books, Rainbow and Sunshine, for families that have experienced miscarriage. She is also helping bring more somatic arts programming into The Cat, including a popular weekly Creative Lunch Break Reset class for adults.

Exit through the gift shop and step right into the studio space. This room took me back to my favorite art teacher, Ms. Weathers’ classroom, and I felt an instant urge to sit down and make something. There’s open shelving lining one wall, stacked with paper, canvas, pencils, chalk, paint brushes, tiny jars, and boxes of more supplies. Artwork from both teachers and students hangs on the wall above and more paper art dangles from the ceiling. A long table is in the center. Move past the table and the space opens again with a platform against the wall, which is where figure drawing happens. Beyond this there is a large bookshelf, The Cat’s art library, filled to the brim with books, which also separates this space from the clay studio. The clay studio houses six throwing wheels and more shelving full of supplies, works in progress, and finished pieces.

The clay studio has always been part of the vision. When Candy was just getting The Cat up and running, there were not very many options for ceramics beyond the Fort Boise classes, which fill up quickly. “We saw a need for more access and knew that we really needed a ceramic studio,” said Candy.

There’s about 150 people involved with The Cat, not including students. Teachers, volunteers, models, staff, and clay studio partners. It’s not one person doing everything. It’s a community of people holding up a community space.

The Cat is a wonderful addition to this up-and-coming block on the Central Bench. In the same plaza you’ll find Common Grounds Coffee & Market, Tandy Leather, Boise Littlest Boutique, Old Soul Tattoo, Studio Lux, the Good Fade, and Cut-n-Up & Co, a popular African-American salon.

Candy, who lives in the neighborhood, is excited to be part of this wave of evolution in this pocket of the Central Bench. “It’s nice to see it alive and to be part of that… it feels really good,” she said.

Paid opportunities for artists

One of the most important things The Cat does is create paid work for artists in a way that doesn’t require them to be expert marketers, admin people, or social media managers on top of everything else.

“Our main goal is to create these paid opportunities for artists that didn’t exist before,” said Candy. The Cat makes it super duper easy for artists to get involved. Artists pitch a class idea to Candy and they work out the logistics together. If the artist doesn’t have teaching experience, Candy mentors them and helps them prepare. The Cat staff also does all the marketing for the class. All the artist has to do is show up and teach their class.

The Cat also tries to provide supplies for classes whenever they can. And they run a scholarship program so money isn’t the reason someone can’t participate. Scholarships are available for full or partial class amounts. These scholarships are funded by donors and also allow the teaching artist to be paid as they normally would.

The classes

If you go to The Cat’s ​website​, you’ll see categories for basically every kind of art: clay, drawing, painting, writing, fiber arts, collage, jewelry, expressive arts, kids and teens classes, free opportunities, and more.

The schedule changes month-to-month. Some classes happen weekly, some every other week, some once a month, some quarterly, and some pop ups with special topic workshops.

Here’s a few types of classes offered at Catalyst Arts Collaborative:

• Raptor Night – a monthly live bird drawing night in partnership with Idaho Raptor Institute
• Impolite Women in Art – a needlework class that mixes embroidery with deep history and discussion. “We sit around and embroider and rage a little bit about the patriarchy, but we learn about it at the same time,” said Candy. “It’s kind of a master level class that you would expect like in a college setting. You learn an in-depth history about colonialism and how that has affected how we are treated today as women, and we learn about like three artists that are not dead white men.“
• Figure drawing and painting – all with live models and they even have a resident dog model named Rebel.
• Painting – watercolor, oil landscapes, impressionist painting, and more. These are offered for beginners through advanced. One class that always catches my eye is the floral watercolor class, where they place a giant bouquet on the table and everyone paints it.
• Zine meetups, collage workshops, screenwriting
• Portuguese knitting and fiber arts – they have classes and meetups throughout the month.
• Kids’ classes – so many fun kid classes like animal masks, family clay nights, and even an art exploration class for little kids age 2-5.
• Teen classes – including homeschool art adventures, after-school programs, teen art club
• Spring break and summer camps – kids return year after year because the projects are always different

You can explore the upcoming class schedule ​here​.

Art that spills into real life

Catalyst Arts Collaborative isn’t just in this building. They’re involved in outreach programs with schools, senior centers, and counseling centers. Recently they developed a Creative Aging Program designed to support community and mental health for seniors.

“It’s really amazing,” said Candy. “It helps with loneliness and depression and building community. And they have found it can even help with dementia.”

Candy’s approach to community programming is refreshingly direct: “We don’t put anybody in a box. Anybody who calls…it’s like, okay, what do you need and how can we make that happen?”

The Cat also does professional development for educators and volunteer art parents – helping schools move beyond “Pinterest crafts” and into real art experiences that connect to learning. That one is a big deal, given that we live in a state that often views art as extra, not essential.

Candy knows that art – and the practice of art – isn’t just about making something pretty. Creating builds problem-solving, perseverance, focus, even science and math skills. Creativity is practical.

Often, people come to a class worried they are not “good at art.”

“It takes practice just like everything else,” said Candy. “Just make the art. It’s just an experiment. If you like it at the end, that’s a bonus.”

Candy said that they get a lot of people coming to classes who say that they always loved art but went and got a “real job” and now they are retired and want to pick up art again.

“We take in anyone wherever they’re at, but my goal is to prevent that break,” said Candy.

Art & Roses Festival

Put this on your calendar: ​Art & Roses Festival​, happening Sunday, June 7 from 10am–5pm at Julia Davis Park. It’s one of Boise’s favorite celebrations of local art with 100+ fine artists, live music, food trucks, free figure drawing, and more.

Catalyst Arts Collaborative helps organize it and they’re actively looking for sponsors to support the event. If you have a business or organization interested in being involved, email ​CatalystArtsCollaborative@gmail.com​.

Want to get involved?

This is the part I want to be super clear about: The Cat is a community space, and it runs like a nonprofit. If you love it, your support genuinely matters.

A few ways you can show up:

• Come in to say hi and check it out
• ​Become a member​ for as low as $3/month!
• ​Sign up for classes​
• ​Book a private party​ (art studio or clay studio)
• ​Purchase a class pass​
• Check out the collaborative gift shop
• ​Give a gift certificate​ (classes, membership, or shop)
• ​Volunteer​ to help out at The Cat, a great way to meet people and earn membership benefits
• ​Donate​ to The Cat, which supports supplies and the scholarship fund.
• ​Sponsor​ an event, like Art & Roses Festival

In Boise, there’s a lot of talk about how the city is changing and what that means. Places like Catalyst Arts Collaborative are what is shaping the future of Boise in a positive, intentional way. Not by trying to be Portland or anywhere else, but by building something uniquely Boise and creating space for people to connect and create in community.

“I just think it is such a magical place,” said Candy. “It’s where we come and kind of let go of the world.”

You can check out ​Catalyst Arts Collaborative​ at 6427 W Ustick Rd, Boise, 83704. They are open 7 days a week. Check out the ​class schedule here​ and ​membership options here​. And if you’re on social media, you can follow them at ​@CatalystArtsCollaborative​.

Thanks for reading!

With love from Boise,

Marissa