The city of Concord won the 2024 Helen Putnam Award for Excellence in Economic Development through the Arts category. For more information about the award program, visit helenputnam.org.

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In downtown Concord, peregrine falcons flock to the sky, Aztec jaguars bare their teeth, and abstract flowers sparkle in the sun. Contemporary and bold, these are just a few of the images woven through 18 murals across Contra Costa County’s largest city. But just a few years ago, none of them existed in this city of 125,000.

Residents and visitors traveled to downtown Concord for its historic plaza, movie theater, and diverse, family-run restaurants. But the pandemic changed people’s behavior, and within a year of the lockdown, Concord needed a new way to bring people downtown.

Enter Creative Concord, an arts and culture program that revitalized downtown through vibrant murals, public art installations, community art events, and live performances. Launched in 2022, Creative Concord put the city on the map for art in Contra Costa, a region with the lowest art budget of all the Bay Area counties.

Creating a place for art downtown

It all started with husband-and-wife team Tari and Sage Loring from Local Edition Creative, an art strategy, consulting, and management agency that works across the San Francisco Bay Area. The Lorings live in Contra Costa County and wanted to bring the work they do to their own backyard.

“Concord was the answer demographically and geographically,” Sage Loring says. “It was the perfect location to create a program that was diverse — that would represent a lot of different people in the community.”

In summer 2021, they approached Visit Concord, the city’s tourism business improvement district, with a proposal to hire artists to create murals in and around Todos Santos Plaza. The proposal also included free events with opportunities for emerging artists and the community.

The timing was good.

“We were looking for ways to get people out of their homes and enjoying life again,” says Concord City Manager Valerie Barone. “The idea of creating an outdoor art experience that meandered through the business district and engaged the public made sense and supported the council’s goals.”

Partnerships that “made it all happen”

Visit Concord and Local Edition Creative brought the idea to the city. The council voted to use some of its art fund and federal COVID-19 relief dollars to pay for the project. Local Edition Creative fundraised the rest. Over the next 11 months, the three-group partnership grew to 75 businesses, organizations, and advocates.

Everyone played a role. An advisory committee that included a member of the Contra Costa Arts Council reviewed mural designs before they went to the city’s design review board. As the program gained momentum, the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce helped promote it.

“We are proud to be a city that collaborates so successfully to build an art and culture program of this size,” says former mayor Edi Birsan. “Joining with a local arts agency helped us visualize what Creative Concord could be and build the partnerships that made it all happen.”

“We wanted the art to be in highly visible locations around the arts and entertainment district in Concord,” says Lisa Roeber, the city’s special events program manager. “And we wanted to help small businesses.”

After months of careful planning, Creative Concord launched in June 2022 with nine murals and a two-day art and music event in the park. Known as Art & Music Jam, the event gathered more than a dozen emerging artists and about 3,000 residents and visitors for a weekend celebration of live performances and artmaking. 

Trusting the experts

The buzz created by the new murals and jam lasted long after the weekend. Local Edition Creative designed a public art walking tour of the mural, which has become a popular tourist attraction. Businesses started contacting Local Edition Creative — they wanted their buildings to be considered for future murals!

The program added three new murals and more creative events in 2023, and the success continued in 2024 with the continuation of artistic events and another six murals.

The Lorings attribute much of Creative Concord’s success to the trust that was placed in them. They curated the mural project like they would plan a dinner party. They mixed it up by inviting locals and a few people from out of town, Sage Loring says.

Some cities shy away from contemporary art and confuse murals and street art with graffiti, says Roeber. But Creative Concord’s murals represent diverse cultures and experiences. That’s part of the draw.

“Don’t be afraid to make it new and exciting,” she says.

And don’t forget young people, says Sage Loring. Many cities focus on historical art, but public art represents the community. If young people don’t see art that represents them, they may not feel part of the city experience.

“A variety of artwork makes a city feel vibrant,” Tari Loring says.

The future looks creative

Creative Concord is now a part of the city’s fabric. With one-time funding ending, the city is actively exploring ways to continue the program’s success into the future. But the aesthetic changes made will last for years.

“We wanted to create something that would last beyond the moment we were going through,” Tari Loring says.

Mission accomplished.

Jennifer Ortega is the former community relations manager for the city of Concord. Justin Ezell is an assistant city manager for Concord and can be reached at justin.ezell@cityofconcord.org. Watch this video for an overview of the project.