Artist Bio

Matilda “Tilley” Rose Bubb, Ph.D., is an artist, researcher, and teacher who has spent her career thinking about how creativity shapes communities. Based in Boise, Idaho, she trained as a visual artist and holds a doctorate in public administration and policy. Bubb works at the intersection of studio practice and civic design — building the cultural frameworks that allow artists and communities to flourish.

Over a 25-year career in public service, Tilley founded and led Boise’s Public Art Program, co-authored major cultural and public art master plans, and helped shape policies that integrate arts, history, and identity into the city’s long-term growth. She co-founded Surel's Place, an artist -in-residency program, and was a founding board member and director of the Alexa Rose Foundation, which supports the creative practices of artists of all disciplines. Her work bridges creative practice and governance, combining strategic planning with embodied, material and community-based inquiry.

In addition to her civic leadership, she teaches design thinking in Boise State University's Executive MBA program, leads intimate encaustic and creative process workshops, and is an author writing about the creative economy. Her current studio practice explores presence, mark-making, materials, and the alchemy between systems and soul.

She is interested in noticing what makes people and places creatively alive and is committed to bringing more creativity into the world through individual practice and supportive arts ecosystems.