Mayor-elect Walsh has already begun his transition phase which means the Create the Vote coalition needs to continue advocating for arts and cultural issues. In a discussion with Steve Annear of Boston Magazine, Ron Mallis of BostonAPP/LAB, producer Jason Turgeon of FIGMENT Boston, Liz Devlin of FLUX Boston, and Matt Wilson of MASSCreative talk about working with Walsh to make art a priority in his administration.
The arts and cultural leaders reflect on the great progress the community has made in elevating its issues and treats the culmination of the mayoral race as a call to action:
“All of that is good, but at the same time, that does not relieve anybody from continuing to emphasize that yes, this is important, and there is a variety of things that need to be done and need to be examined. I am hoping all of that will occur,” Ron Mallis said. “There needs to be an ongoing kind of lobbying on the part of the arts community, acknowledging that we have gotten this far, and the pressure needs to be kept up.”
In the meantime, these leaders will collaborate and write an open letter to the mayor to address his next steps. Additionally, Mallis has taken his involvement a step further by applying to be on Walsh's transition team to represent the arts. But the engagement doesn't end there. In the coming months, it will be up to the whole creative community - spanning across disciplines and working in neighborhoods around the city - to reach out to Mayor-elect Marty Walsh and work with him in solidarity.
Liz Devlin has the final say in the article, setting the tone for the road ahead:
“I have hope, but it’s not Marty Walsh’s deal to change everything for us. We all have a responsibility to do it. He just has to be open and listen and say OK, and we can be all the worker bees and we can do it. The potential is there to be better.”
