FROM THE VAULT: THE 2023-2024 CREATIVE SECTOR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA
The image features a group of people placing their hands together in the center. The red background and floating triangle images are decorative.
CREATING A LEGISLATIVE AGENDA
In Fall 2022, MASSCreative conducted a statewide listening series during which we asked artists, creatives, and members of the creative sector what they needed to live, work, and create in Massachusetts. Based on this feedback, the MASSCreative Action Network partnered with cross-sector allies and legislative champions to introduce five bills that support a stronger creative economy, increase access to funding, and preserve cultural spaces.
THE 2023-2024 CREATIVE SECTOR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA:
-
Sponsored by Rep. Dan Donahue and Sen. Paul Mark
The Accessibility in the Creative Economy (ACE) Fund would provide grants to organizations focused on the arts, culture, humanities, and interpretive sciences to remove barriers encountered by people with disabilities.
Download the ACE Act fact sheet for more information (last updated in 2024).
-
Sponsored by Rep. Tony Cabral and Sen. John Cronin
This would establish the Downtown Vitality Fund and allocate 5% of receipts from online sales originating in Massachusetts to support staffing and operations of cultural districts, business improvement districts, main street associations, and parking benefit districts in Gateway Cities and other low-income communities.
Download the Downtown Vitality Act fact sheet fore more information (last updated in 2024).
-
Sponsored by Rep. Dan Cahill and Sen. Liz Miranda
The Creative Space Preservation Act would create a defined property restriction for creative maker space and performance or exhibition space. It would also allow cities and towns to establish trust funds to hold assets and property for the creation and preservation of creative spaces, giving them more tools to keep artists in their communities.
Download the Creative Space Preservation Act fact sheet for more information (last updated in 2024).
-
Sponsored by Rep. Pat Duffy and Sen. Jake Oliveira
This bill would establish a grant program within the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism to support tourism marketing and promotional expenses for arts and cultural organizations. The fund would prioritize arts and cultural organizations and events that seek to amplify the stories of historically marginalized or underrepresented cultures. By increasing local and regional tourism to more culturally diverse spaces and events, Massachusetts can support economic vitality for everyone.
Download the Cultural Equity in Tourism Act fact sheet for more information (last updated in 2024).
-
Sponsored by Rep. Mary Keefe, Rep. Steve Ultrino, Sen. Paul Mark, and Sen. Robyn Kennedy
The Program for Local Art and Community Engagement (PLACE) would allocate a percentage of construction costs on any Commonwealth-owned property and public funding granted to new construction projects exceeding $200K for a public art fund. The fund would be used to create and maintain public art in Massachusetts and would codify the process for commissioning public art, making it easier for cities and towns to engage their residents in developing relevant and inclusive public art for all.
Download the PLACE Act fact sheet for more information (last updated in 2024).
The image features speakers at the PLACE Act press conference at Rockland Trust Plaza, in front of the Tobias Boland Statue, in Worcester, MA on September 15, 2023. Speakers are from left to right: Emily Ruddock, Kate Gilbert (Executive Director, Now + There), Elizabeth Tiblanc (Vice President of Arts & Culture, Embrace Boston), Al Wilson (Founder & CEO, Beyond Walls), State Representative Mary S. Keefe, State Senator Robyn Kennedy, and Robert Shure (Sculptor & President, Skylight Studios).
ADVOCACY AND OUTCOMES
Throughout these two years, MASSCreative built public support for this legislative agenda using three key strategies:
PUBLIC EDUCATION AND AWARENESS: we educated creative communities on what these bills sought to accomplish and how to get involved with moving them through the legislative process. We hosted regional press conferences and town halls, provided legislative updates through our monthly webinars, and provided advocates with resources and tools to participate in public hearings and start conversations with their elected officials.
COALITION BUILDING: we expanded the conversation and brought in more people who could speak to their unique experiences operating within the creative sector and could provide essential personal testimonies to the value of these bills. We stood up an open endorsement process shortly after these bills were filed to give advocates the option to add their public support to this work. We also invited advocates to share their support for these bills with state and local elected officials during Creative Sector Advocacy Week.
BUILDING SUPPORT WITH PUBLIC OFFICIALS: during the 2023-2024 legislative session, MASSCreative and our partners engaged with more elected officials and encouraged advocates to do the same to build support for these bills at the State House, in city halls, and in town administrative offices. As a result, we secured more legislative co-sponsors, endorsements from local elected officials, and even had a resolution passed by the Boston City Council unanimously supporting the Creative Space Preservation Act.
Panelists offering testimony during a Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development hearing in September 2023. Panelists from left to right: Doneeca Thurston-Chavez (Executive Director, Lynn Museum & Arts Center), Annis Sengupta (Director of Arts and Culture, Metropolitan Area Planning Council), and Emily Ruddock.
Because of these efforts, we acheived the following outcomes:
The Downtown Vitality Act passed as a provision of the Mass Leads Act! You can read more about this victory in the blog linked below.
The ACE Act received a favorable report from the Join Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities
The Creative Space Preservation Act received a favorable report from the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development
The PLACE Act received a favorable report from the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development
The Cultural Equity in Tourism Act was sent to study.
GET INVOLVED - SUPPORT THE NEXT LEGISLATIVE AGENDA
Just as in 2022, the MASSCreative Action Network organized its second statewide community conversations series in Fall 2024 to provide updates on the 2023-2024 Creative Sector Legislative Agenda, solicit feedback from artists and creatives about ways to strengthen the bills, and to survey the field about the issues that are relevant to the creative sector today. We analyzed the feedback that we received and used it to develop the 2025-2026 Creative Sector Legislative Agenda.
We invite you to get involved with this work by visiting our 2025-2026 Policy Agenda page and learning about each of the bills. Consider publicly endorsing these bills and use MASSCreative’s resources to urge your elected officials to co-sponsor.
