November 11, 2021 - Forty-one members of the Create the Vote Boston Coalition co-signed a letter of congratulations to Mayor-Elect Wu. The letter welcomed Mayor-Elect Wu to her new post and thanked her for her focus on arts and culture during her campaign. The signatories also reminded Mayor-Elect Wu of the significant value that arts and culture bring to residents across Boston and the policies the Create the Vote Boston Coalition urge the city to implement in order to ensure a strong, inclusive and equitable arts and cultural economy for the city. 

Signatories included artists and cultural leaders from across the city including Zakiyyah Sutton, Micah Rosegrant, Cristina Todesco; Ashleigh Gordon, Artistic Director of Castle of our Skins; Shawn LeCount and Karthik Subramanian of Company One; J. Cottle, Founder of Dunamis; The New England Foundation for the Arts; The Huntington Theatre Company, ArtsBoston, Boston Gay Mens Chorus, The Museum of Science, Boston and The New England Aquarium.

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Boston mayoral candidates John Barros, Andrea Campbell, and Michelle Wu shared their vision for Boston’s post-pandemic future and the role that artists and arts and cultural organizations will play in it at Create the Vote Boston 2021’s Boston Mayoral Candidate Forum on Art, Culture, and Creativity   Sept. 2.  

Moderated by WBUR arts and culture reporter Cristela Guerra, the virtual event opened with a poem by Micah Rosegrant, a Roslindale poet and organizer, titled “Invocation to Together Breath,” and a land acknowledgement from J.Cottle, executive director of Dunamis.  

Cottle also highlighted both the importance of arts and culture to Boston’s economic recovery from the pandemic and the need for the next mayor to prioritize support for expanding access to the arts citywide.

BOSTON, August 27, 2021—The Boston Mayoral Forum on Arts, Culture, and Creativity will take place Thursday, September 2 from 4-5 p.m. Co-hosted by the Create the Vote Boston 2021 Coalition and WBUR, the forum will foster discussion of mayoral candidates’ vision for Boston’s post-pandemic future and the role that artists and arts and cultural organizations will play in it. WBUR arts reporter Cristela Guerra will moderate the forum which will be livestreamed by HowlRound. 

“The next mayor of Boston will have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to lead the city out of the COVID-19 pandemic toward a more inclusive, just, and connected city,” said Cynthia Woo, Director of Pao Arts Center. “To succeed, the arts and cultural sector must be centered in those efforts. We look forward to this important discussion with the mayoral candidates.” 

“Before the pandemic, the city’s arts sector contributed $2 billion to Boston’s economy, sustained 30,000 jobs, and drew 21 million people to cultural events—which is more than four times as many people who attended professional sports games,” said J Cottle, Executive Director of Dunamis Boston. “Yet artists, their creations, and their numerous contributions to the city’s economy are often taken for granted by city leaders. We want to hear how candidates intend to sustain and support the arts sector, which has been devastated by the pandemic.” 

“Everyone who lives in Boston has the right to experience creativity and culture, express themselves creatively, and see their culture reflected in artistic expression,” said Karthik Subramanian, Managing Director of Company One. “But the systemic racism that has been laid bare, most recently, by the COVID-19 pandemic, has often meant that BIPOC entrepreneurs and artists working in the cultural sector have not had access to the same opportunities for funding and permitting and licensing as their white peers. This has reinforced systems of cultural segregation in Boston that must be dismantled to become a city of opportunity for everyone.” 

“Boston is a great city in which to live, work, and play, and artists, cultural organizations, and the creative sector is a big reason why,” said Carole Charnow, President & CEO of Boston Children's Museum. “But as cities across the country, including ours, grapple with lower attendance and smaller audiences due to the pandemic, cultural leaders are working hard to restore confidence and encourage audiences to return. We are seeking a mayor who understands this challenge, and will integrate arts and cultural recovery into their larger pandemic economic development plans. We are looking forward to having this important discussion with our Mayoral candidates in this upcoming forum.”

The Boston Mayoral Forum on Arts, Culture, and Creativity will take place Thursday, September 2 from 4-5 p.m. Members of the public can watch via livestream by HowlRound. To learn more about Create the Vote, follow us on Twitter @CreatetheVoteMA and Instagram @CTVBoston

Endorsees include Museum of Fine Arts, Company One, ArtsBoston, Boston Gay Men’s Chorus, Pao Arts Center, Boston Children’s Museum, Boston Arts + Music Soul (BAMS) Fest, and 30 others from every corner of the city 

BOSTON, July 9, 2021—The Create the Vote Boston Coalition (CTV Boston) announces today that over 30 arts and cultural organizations in Boston have endorsed its policy platform, and that CTV Boston is meeting with candidates for mayor and sharing information with the public from those meetings. 

The CTV Boston 2021 policy platform lays out three priorities for the city’s next mayor: 

• Increase arts and cultural funding to $20 million by 2025 to ensure that all Boston residents have access to creative expression and cultural experiences across their lifespan.
• Increase funding and program support for arts education in Boston Public Schools and access to creative youth development programs across the city.
• Make Boston a more arts and culture-friendly city by increasing space for the creation and presentation of art, streamlining permitting processes, and removing barriers for holding cultural events. 

The policy platform was co-created by CTV Boston’s shared leadership, which includes Dunamis, Company One, ArtsBoston, Boston Gay Men’s Chorus, Museum of Fine Arts, Pao Arts Center, Edvestors, MASSCreative, and artist Ana Masacote. These core partners have been working closely with artists, creative workers, cultural organizations and arts groups from across the creative sector to develop a platform that reflects the multitude of experiences and perspectives of Boston’s arts community, centering the voices of those who have historically been marginalized from processes of advocacy and engagement.

CTV Boston met with mayoral candidate John Barros June 22 and with Boston City Councilor and mayoral candidate Michelle Wu on June 28. Earlier this week CTV Boston met with Boston City Councilor and mayoral candidate Annissa Essaibi George as well as State Representatives Jon Santiago, summaries of the both meetings are forthcoming. CTV Boston will meet Boston City Councilor and mayoral candidate Andrea Campbell on July 16. CTV Boston is currently scheduling a meeting with Mayor Kim Janey.