MASSCREATIVE CELEBRATES THE 2024-2025 ADVOCACY & ORGANIZING FELLOWS
2024-2025 Advocacy & Organizing Fellows on their closing day at the Worcester Public Library.
In November, MASSCreative graduated its latest cohort of Advocacy & Organizing Fellows. The Fellowship, which officially wrapped on November 12th, marked the end of a year-long, stipended leadership program designed to equip arts activists, creative workers, and emerging cultural sector leaders with the advocacy and organizing skills necessary to advance a more equitable, inclusive, and vibrant creative sector across Massachusetts. This concludes the third cohort to participate in the Fellowship, which was possible thanks to support from the Barr Foundation.
“In these polarized and dehumanizing times, the arts and creativity are more needed than ever. They reaffirm our humanity. That’s why policies that impact communities across the state are always better when they are informed by voices from the arts sector. MASSCreative’s Advocacy & Organizing Fellowship has partnered with artists and cultural workers from every corner of Massachusetts to drive local policy change. With each class, we learn of more artist-advocates who are eager to champion their own communities and each other.”
The 2024–2025 cohort included 10 individuals from regions throughout the Commonwealth, including Cape Cod and the Islands, Central Massachusetts, Boston, Greater Boston, Hampshire County, Greater Springfield, and the North Shore. The majority of fellows reside outside of Greater Boston (82%) and are independent artists or creative workers (64%). MASSCreative is dedicated to utilizing its programs and advocacy campaigns to increase inclusivity and equity throughout the creative sector, beginning with the Fellowship: 46% of this year’s fellows identify as genderqueer, nonbinary, or trans, while 55% identify as having a disability. Fellows practice diverse creative disciplines and attend to various professional roles within the sector: 37% of fellows have worked in the sector for fewer than five years.
“We operate from the belief that when individual artists and organizational leaders understand the fundamental skills they need to organize their communities and get the attention of elected officials, then we will be able to shift systems to better support creativity in Massachusetts. We’re proud of what’s been possible through the Advocacy & Organizing Fellowship because at its center, this program is about giving individuals greater confidence to use the power they already have to reimagine what public support could look like for the creative sector.”
The graduating 2024-2025 Advocacy & Organizing Fellows are:
Anastaci Pacella: Co-founder and curator of The Cordial Eye Gallery and Artist Space based on Cape Cod.
Christine Brown: Administrative Assistant at MassDevelopment and independent creative based in Central Massachusetts.
coco rosenberg: Director of Pathways at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and independent creative based in Boston.
Erin Ryan Heyneman: Commissioner of the Melrose Commission on Disability in Greater Boston.
Garin Boyd: Founding Commissioner and Secretary of the Melrose Commission on Disability and Steering Committee member of the Melrose Creative Alliance in Greater Boston.
karen Krolak: co-artistic Director of Monkeyhouse in Greater Boston.
Krystle Brown: Multimedia artist based in Salem.
Marcia Williams: Founder of Photosbymarcia LLC and freelance photographer in Boston.
Sunny Allis: Freelance creator and animator in Hampshire County.
Yolanda Yang: Founder of Behind VA Shadows and independent creative in Greater Boston.
Throughout the year, fellows identified cultural policy or creative economy issues they wanted to address through long-term community organizing. Through research, peer review, and training from experienced organizers, artist leaders, and advocates nationwide, each fellow developed an actionable advocacy plan tailored to the needs of their community. Each individual received a $5,000 stipend along with technical assistance to support their work.
Their ongoing projects include building a Disabled Stories Collective (Discostory), establishing a statewide Youth Arts Council, expanding civic literacy among artists with special attention to disabled artists, supporting arts organizations in rural communities, and developing an educational entertainment series to support gender-diverse youth. They completed final presentations on their projects at the Worcester Public Library on November 5th. Graduates of the Fellowship are expected to continue iterating their projects after the completion of the program.
“We’re proud to graduate another class of MASSCreative Advocacy & Organizing Fellows. These fellows have the skills and passion to transform their communities into places where more artists can thrive. We’re excited to continue working with them and graduates from past cohorts to make the creative sector stronger in Massachusetts.”
MASSCreative extends its congratulations to the 2024–2025 fellows and looks forward to continuing to support them as they collectively strive to strengthen advocacy networks across Massachusetts.
