THE RECENTLY PASSED $4 billion state spending bill appears generous to the arts and culture sector, particularly groups with ties to communities of color. It includes $135 million to help […]
Arts + Policy
Posted inArts and Culture
It’s time to end gun violence – on movie sets
A 16-YEAR-OLD BOY shivers. It’s cold, dimly lit, and windy outside an old, abandoned city warehouse. He should have worn more than his thin hooded sweatshirt. He pulls the hood […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Mass. recovers Hamilton letter from 1780
ON JULY 21, 1780, Alexander Hamilton wrote a letter to the Marquis de Lafayette warning of imminent danger to French troops in Rhode Island. “We have just received advice from New […]
Posted inOpinion
We can’t afford to take arts sector for granted
JOCKEYING FOR HOW to disburse the more than $5 billion in federal funds coming to Massachusetts via the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) has been underway for months. From health […]
Posted inArts and Culture
A new way to commission public art
MOST MASSACHUSETTS communities use the same process to commission public art as they do to pave a sidewalk or hire a streetsweeper. They put out a call for contractors, review […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Long-awaited arts funding finally arriving
MASSACHUSETTS ARTS appear to be big beneficiaries of $16 billion in federal relief aid that is finally starting to be released after a delayed start and an arduous review process. […]
Posted inUncategorized
Mariano scores big victory on film tax credit
HOUSE SPEAKER Ron Mariano won a major victory in budget negotiations with the Senate as the January 2023 sunset date for the state’s film tax credit was eliminated and all […]
Posted inOpinion
Boch Center getting back on its feet
MASSACHUSETTS’ CULTURAL economy stands among the industries hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The recent lifting of coronavirus safety restrictions means arts, entertainment, and cultural institutions can finally begin the […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Rebuilding the arts sector without a vow of poverty
LIKE MANY CREATIVES, Vanessa Calixto works in the arts to fill her heart and in another field to fill her bank account. It’s a tradeoff she accepts to do the […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Mass Reboot: The arts sector
THE BOCH CENTER and the Dorchester Art Project are arts organizations from very different worlds, but both were hit hard by COVID and are now struggling to find their way […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Now not the time to hike PILOT payments for arts organizations
BEFORE THE PANDEMIC, arts nonprofits in Boston were a potent driver of the local economy, supporting at least 45,889 full time jobs, generating over $1.3 billion in spending, and bringing […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Senate proposal pares back film tax credit
THE SENATE BUDGET committee is proposing major changes to the film tax credit, setting the stage for a major clash with the House over the lucrative incentives the state offers […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Arts programming in Boston schools linked to attendance, engagement gains
A NEW STUDY says an effort to increase arts programming in the Boston Public Schools has helped boost student attendance and promote student and parent engagement with schools, outcomes that […]
Posted inNews Analysis
Stark differences make many Mass. communities neighbors in name only
IN 1847, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ordered that a line be drawn from the mouth of the Shawsheen River, down along its eastern bank, and “thence in a straight line […]
Posted inArts and Culture
House follows Mariano’s lead on film tax credit
THE HOUSE, getting in line behind a high priority of Speaker Ron Mariano, unanimously passed a budget amendment on Monday that would do away with the planned sunset of the […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Maverick Square, which honors state’s first slave owner, should be renamed
SHE CAME TO the window around 9 a.m., singing in a loud, high-pitched voice. Her words were foreign, but they communicated a sense of sorrow so powerful that John Josselyn […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Tax breaks not on House budget chief’s radar
THE HOUSE’S TOP budget official said his spending plan for fiscal 2022 doesn’t address outdated or ineffective tax breaks highlighted in a recent commission report and he doesn’t plan to […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Public art can help drive our post-pandemic renewal
A YEAR INTO the global pandemic and the once-familiar roar of people, cars, and activity in Boston is still a memory. The feeling of life in suspension persists. Yet, glimmers […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Film tax credit backers say they have the votes
SUPPORTERS OF THE state’s film tax credit, which came under fire this week from a commission examining Massachusetts tax breaks, say they have the votes to pass legislation that would […]
Posted inArts and Culture
13 views on how the pandemic will shape the future
IT WAS A YEAR AGO this week that it became clear how completely our world would be turned upside down. After mounting global concern about a deadly new respiratory illness […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Meet Michael Bobbitt, state’s new arts leader
THE LIFE STORY of Michael Bobbitt is probably very similar to what he would like to replicate for residents statewide as he takes over as the executive director of the […]
Posted inOpinion
There are many Amanda Gormans out there
RIGHT NOW, poetry has our attention. On January 20, Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in US history, performed her breathtaking poem The Hill We Climb in front of 40 […]
Posted inArts and Culture
As BSO, Boch Center struggle, fundraising takes off
TWO OF BOSTON’S leading cultural institutions had their best fundraising years ever last year as patrons rushed to help fill a void created by COVID-19. “We’ve raised more money now […]
Posted inArts and Culture
The intersection of race, COVID-19, and the arts
THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC has had a disproportionate impact on the black community, at the same time as a national reckoning on race relations called attention to societal ills stemming from […]
