The Idaho Commission on the Arts, founded in 1966, offers grants to support both creative and performing artists. It has also cut records of folk music, mounted a folk art exhibit, and prepared a slide-tape series on Idaho folk life and folk art. In 2003, the Idaho Commission on the Arts and other Idaho arts organizations received grants totaling $700,400 from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Commission is also a partner with the regional Western States Arts Federation. The Idaho Humanities Council was established in 1973. In 2000, the state received $492,997 in the form of eight grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Idaho's arts education programs are offered to about 9,000 schoolchildren. Idaho has about 55 arts associations and 26 local art groups.
The Boise Philharmonic is Idaho's leading professional orchestra; other symphony orchestras are in Coeur d'Alene, Moscow, Pocatello, and Twin Falls. Boise and Moscow have seasonal theaters. The annual summer Idaho Shakespeare Festival, in Boise, presents a series of plays in its outdoor Festival Amphitheater and Reserve.