Boston’s next game-changer for the arts

This week, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh fulfilled a pledge he made to the creative community when he hired Julie Burros to the new position of Chief of Arts and Culture. For the first time in 20 years Boston will have a dedicated Arts Chief, serving alongside 10 other advisors in the mayor’s cabinet.

Steve Annear quotes MASSCreative executive director Matt Wilson in Boston Magazine, sharing the significance of this announcement: “During the mayoral campaign, Walsh was the first candidate to pledge to hire a cabinet-level arts commissioner, and his fulfillment of that promise is truly groundbreaking.”

Boston’s new arts czar comes to the city off the heels of her success in developing a robust cultural plan for Chicago. Currently, Burros serves as the Director of Cultural Planning at the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events in Chicago (DCASE), a city that serves as a strong model of what can be accomplished in Boston. Check out our blog post from last fall where we take a look at the work of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and DCASE in bolstering the city’s arts and culture.

Congratulations to Julie Burros, and we look forward to working with both her and Mayor Walsh to help elevate Boston’s rich arts and cultural sector. Read more coverage of this exciting development for the arts in WBUR and Boston Magazine. And check out the Boston Globe article, featuring a quote from MASSCreative board member and Executive Director of Arts Boston, Catherine Peterson.

[Photo: WBUR, The Artery]