This article was originally published by Autum Robertson in BoiseDev.
Local nonprofit organization Boise Rock School applied to move into the old Pleasure Boutique on 5022 W Fairview Ave. The adult goods store closed last year.
Boise Rock School is anarts education program that sees around 500 children a week. Managing Director and Co-founder Ryan Peck say the nonprofit never turns away people who can’t pay.
“I know the impact we have. We go to places like Ada County Juvenile Corrections, we go to St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital School and we bring arts education to places that need it,” Peck said. “…We’re trying to really do our best to build resilience and empower the next generation.”
The school is growing fast. Peck says they are adopting a sister organization called Juno Arts where classes such as filmmaking and audio engineering will be taught.
Prior to the pandemic, Peck says they had raised some of the money for the new building. But now, Boise Rock School is still finding funds to renovate the inside of the Fairview building.
“We have been doing a capital campaign for the last two years to raise money to have a building that we own, in the face of a growing city,” he said. “We want to ensure that there are all ages cultural hubs, that are permanent. And so, we’ve been raising the money to do it through grants, mostly grants, private donations and charitable contributions.”
The goal is to have a building with about ten classrooms, a film/recording studio and a small venue. Peck acknowledges that raising this money is no small feat, but says hopefully the move can happen by the end of the year.
