If you would prefer a PDF copy, download it here.

Addressing Citywide Issues: Just as any other major city, Boston faces many economic and social issues. Can you provide examples on how you would integrate the arts, culture, and creative community in solving social problems? How would you use our community to drive economic development in the city?

As the first candidate in this race to vow to elevate the sector to a cabinet-level office in my administration (as it was under Mayor Flynn), I think my commitment is clear. Arts and culture impacts or can impact most if not all other policy areas in a municipal administration. This includes but is not limited to economic development, education, public safety, public health, human services, parks, transportation, city services and more.

In my administration there will be a strategic reframing and naming of this sector to the Arts, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Industries (ACTCI), which is essential to the expansion of Boston’s creative ecosystem. ACTCI encompass all the key pillars that support and fuel the City’s creative economy and help to grow our arts and culture. The addition of Creative Industries better reflects the artists of all disciplines, individuals, nonprofits, and for profit businesses who are the innovators and the contributors that are helping to make Boston one of the best cities in country. This repositioning and redefining of this sector better enables the City of Boston to be included at the policy table for this sector on statewide, national, and international levels. 

MASSCreative Executive Director Matt Wilson's letter to The Globe urges voters to consider the candidate’s arts, culture and creative platforms when they vote for the next mayor of Boston.  To keep the creative community thriving and support events like Outside the Box, Boston needs a mayor who is not just a supporter, but a champion of the arts and cultural community. Read the whole article here.

Bill Walczak with Linda Nathan at our Create the Vote kickoff event. His sign reads I'm an Arts Voter because "Arts are essential for our humanity."

Mike Ross at our Create the Vote kickoff event. His sign reads: I am an Arts Voter because "I'm also an artist and believe in arts power to transform and create jobs".

From John Barros' issue page on his website:

On Developing Local Arts and the Creative Economy

Leading an arts and culture renaissance, John will ensure that Boston develops an overarching vision, arts and cultural plan.  The plan will lift up Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver and San Francisco as models of cities of like size that have dedicated revenue streams (e.g. portion of hotel or sales taxes) and that made real investment into arts infrastructure and understand the arts as an economic driver. John will:

• Address the lack of public art and arts access in Boston through the expansion and use of local arts infrastructure and programs in schools, community centers and non-profits.
  
  
• Strengthen the local creative economy by supporting more commercial art integration in revitalizing our main streets, including art as a specific driver for economic development in general. Boston can create arts and culture clusters that are marketed to and supported by Boston’s residents and tourists.
  
  
• Increase the focus on Federal, State and Corporate Investments through more aggressive pursuit of state and federal grants and a stronger relationship with corporate partners in improving the cultural life of the city.

Taken from Arroyo's issue page on his website: 

Promoting Arts, Culture & Tourism

Stephanie Cardon of Boston's online art journal Big Red & Shiny shares her thoughts on the Create The Vote campaign kickoff, calling this campaign the "opportunity of decades". Read the whole thing here. 

WBUR’s Andrea Shea looks back on Mayor Menino’s arts, culture, and creativity legacy. Yes, Menino was a supporter of the community and the story ticks off examples from the past 20 years. Yet it is clear Boston now needs a mayor that is a champion of the arts, cultural and creative community if we want to build a more vibrant and connected city.  The breadth and depth of the creative community in Boston is damn impressive, yet Boston can do better. 

MASSCreative's Matt Wilson has the last word in this story, saying that the creative community cannot operate to its full capacity until the next Mayor provides institutions and individual artists with the basic support and resources needed to truly do their work. Read the whole article here, or listen here.

The future of First Night is one of the key issues that the next mayor of Boston will need to face. Read here to find out what the candidates are saying.

Once again, we have good news to report from the State House. 

Last week, the Senate approved Senator Dan Wolf’s amendment to add $1.6 million to the MCC budget. This vote increases the state's investment in the creative community by 17% to a total of just over $11 million.