Boston wouldn’t be Boston without its arts community. But Boston won’t support the arts community the way we want it to unless we ask for what we need.
2025 is a municipal election year in Massachusetts and in the City of Boston, the mayor and city council are on the ballot. Create the Vote is mobilizing arts and culture leaders in Boston to organize the sector around an arts and culture policy agenda, engage with candidates who are running for elected office, and to turn out voters.
Join the 2025 Create the Vote Boston Steering and Host Committees for a Boston Mayoral Forum on Arts & Culture at the Strand Theatre on Wednesday, July 30, 2025 at 6:00 PM (doors open at 5:30 PM). This forum is your chance to hear directly from Michelle Wu, Josh Kraft, and Domingos DaRosa about their visions for the creative workforce and economy. The forum will be moderated by Jared Bowen, host of GBH’s The Culture Show.
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5:30 PM: Registration. Meet and greet with Boston City Councilor-At-Large candidates.
6:00 - 6:20 PM: Welcoming remarks from the Boston Mayoral Forum Steering Committee
Opening performance by Regie Gibson: Massachusetts’ first Poet Laureate
Jared Bowen will begin moderating candidate Q&A’s.
6:20 - 6:50 PM: Q&A with Michelle Wu
7:00 - 7:30 PM: Q&A with Josh Kraft
7:40 - 8:10 PM: Q&A with Domingos DaRosa
8:10 - 8:30 PM: Closing remarks followed by a community debrief
We want to pack the Strand with artists, creatives, educators, organizers, and everyone who believes that creativity is essential to the City of Boston.
ASL and CART services will be available. Register by Tuesday, July 29th at 12:00 PM to attend the forum.
For questions about Create the Vote and our Boston coalition, please contact createthevote@mass-creative.org.
The Boston Mayoral Forum is organized by host committee members: Abilities Dance, AfroDesiaCity Productions LLC, ArtsBoston, #ARTSTAYSHERE Coalition, BAMS Fest Inc, Boston Art Review, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston Children's Museum, Boston Lyric Opera, Castle of our Skins, Charlestown Rehearsal Studios Tenants Association, Company One Theatre, Dorchester Art Project, EdVestors, Embrace Boston, Expressive Art Studios, GrubStreet, Humphreys Street Studios, MASSCreative, National Center of Afro-American Artists, Photosbymarcia LLC, Roxbury Cultural District, SpeakEasy Stage, Temple Gill, The Annette McCarty Art Studio, The Fenway Alliance, The Network for Arts Administrators of Color (NAACBoston), The Record Co., and Veronica Robles Cultural Center (VROCC).
REGISTER FOR THE MAYORAL FORUM: