Tours & Exhibitions
Engage with public art, historical sites, and more through tours. Both guided and self-guided tours are available, as well as a number of virtual tours online.
Guided Tours
Residents and visitors curious to learn more about Boise's history and public art can sign up for our summer-long series of 90-minute guided tours offered on Wednesdays and Saturdays from June through August.
Each tour will cover 1.5 miles and are offered at no cost upon registration. Registration opens on the 15th of each month for the month ahead (May 15, June 15, July 15).
Explore Boise's core and its colorful tapestry of murals, sculptures, and traffic boxes. Each 90-minute guided tour will begin and end at Cherie Buckner-Webb Park (1100 W Bannock St.)
- Saturday, August 23 | 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
- Tuesday, August 26 | 6 p.m.
- Thursday, August 28 | 6 p.m.
- Tuesday, September 2 | 6 p.m.
- Thursday, September 4 | 6 p.m.
- Saturday, September 6 | 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
- Saturday, September 20 | 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Discover the layered stories of Boise's Grove Street, where history and public art come together to offer a lens into the city's evolution from its earliest days to the modern era. Each 90-minute tour begins at C.W. Moore Park (150 S. 5th St) and ends at the Modern Hotel (1314 W Grove St.).
- Tuesday, September 9 | 6 p.m.
- Thursday, September 11 | 6 p.m.
- Saturday, September 13 | 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
- Tuesday, September 16 | 6 p.m.
- Tuesday, September 23 | 6 p.m.
- Thursday, September 25 | 6 p.m.
- Saturday, September 27 | 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Learn about Boise's Chinese history from the 1860s through the 1970s with highlights that include contributions to Boise's built environment, economy, and community. Each 90-minute guided tour will begin and end at Boise City Hall Plaza (150 N Capitol Blvd.).
- Tuesday, September 30 | 6 p.m.
- Thursday, October 2, 6 p.m.
- Saturday, October 4 | 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
- Tuesday, October 7 | 6 p.m.
- Thursday, October 9 | 6 p.m.
- Saturday, October 11 | 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
- Tuesday, October 14 | 6 p.m.
- Thursday, October 16 | 6 p.m.
- Saturday, October 18 | 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Self-Guided Tours
Experience additional thoughtfully designed tours on your own schedule, pace, and guidance.
Use our interactive Public Art Collections Map or download one of the following brochure PDFs to explore a specific area:
You may also request a copy one or more of these brochures by email.
Boise's 1863 Plat Walking Tour
Explore the City of Boise through the lens of early settlers. Discover boundaries of the plat, including what was lost and how the area has been transformed.
Virtual Tours & Exhibitions
Explore from the comfort of wherever you are. We have a number of virtual tours available online.
Remnants of Boise
Explore the last 150+ years of Boise's growth and development. The tour consists of 25 locations that explore a different area of the city. Historic photographs, plats, and maps will reveal a better understanding of the evolution of each location.
Take the Tour
A City Without a Mayor: Boise’s Early Government 1863-1867
Over the course of four years in the mid-1860s, a struggle over the function of city government threatened to undo much of the progress early residents had made in establishing and developing Boise City. The controversy stemmed from a simple question: was municipal government necessary?
Take the Tour
City Halls Past & Present
City hall buildings represent the city government and its center of power. They house government officials and staff who keep the city running, and also provide access points for citizens to reach the people who work on their behalf. The history of Boise’s city hall structures reflects the growth and evolution of the city itself. Over the past 150-plus years, Boise municipal government offices transitioned from borrowed spaces in offices and private residences to the current downtown City Hall Plaza, occupying a full city block, with a second facility in West Boise for the Police and Fire departments.
View the Exhibit
Boise's Open Space: Celebrating 20 Years of the Foothills Levy
2021 marked the 20th anniversary of the first foothills levy passed by 59% of Boise voters on May 22, 2001. With a two-year, $10 million dollar commitment, Boiseans showed tremendous support for protecting open space in the Boise Foothills. Explore an exhibit of historic photographs and stories unlocking the origins, conditions, and events surrounding the foothills' environment, as well as the impact of the levy on Boise’s open space over the last two decades.
View the Exhibit
“Workin’ 9 to 5: Boise Suffragists in Downtown Boise"
Downtown history tours often focus on the architecture of buildings and the businesses they held. Invariably, these stories primarily focus on men. The aim of this tour is to depart from the traditional narrative and, instead, show the indelible mark women have left on downtown Boise. Join the adventure to learn more about our built environment through the lens of women's history.
Take the Tour
James Castle House Virtual Tour
Following his death in 1977, self-taught outsider artist James Castle captured international attention with his astonishing saliva and soot drawings on matchbooks, milk cartons and newspapers—whatever he could find around his rural Idaho home. Now under restoration, Castle’s house and home site are available via a mobile Virtual Tour, including the tiny wooden bunkhouse where Castle found inspiration for his incomparable work and prolific career.
Take the TourRecorded Presentations
For 20 years, the Fettuccine Forum presented a lively and informal series that invited the public to interact with politicians, artists, historians, activists, advocates, and professionals in an effort to promote good citizenship and responsible growth through education. Much of this series is available on YouTube.
Creators, Makers, & Doers highlights the lives and work of Boise artists and creative individuals. Selected profiles focus on individuals whose work has been supported by the Boise City Department of Arts & History.
