Past PRIORITY Wins
Learn about past advocacy wins for the creative and cultural sector.
Since its founding in 2013, MASSCreative has worked with advocates across the Commonwealth to build a stronger, more equitable and inclusive creative sector. From local and state elections to increased public funding for creative and cultural work, our organizing efforts have shifted how Massachusetts values our community:
Public Funding
The most significant investment in the creative sector is the Commonwealth’s annual investment in the Mass Cultural Council through the budget process. Thanks to our network of advocates and our annual state budget advocacy we’ve increase the Mass Cultural Council’s budget line by 244.7%
Youth and Arts
As part of Arts for All Coalition, MASSCreative worked with teachers, parents and students to ensure arts education accountability metrics were part of Massachusetts’ implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). This includes collecting data on student participation in arts education courses by grade and by arts discipline, publishing the data collected in the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) School Report Card website, and working with DESE to produce updated curriculm frameworks for each arts course for every grade level. Arts for All Coalition partners included Arts | Learning, EdVestors, BPS Arts Expansion, Mass Cultural Council, Massachusetts Art Education Association, and Massachusetts College of Art and Design
Creative Spaces
MASSCreative lead the grassroots advocacy campaign to secure Boston’s Percent for Arts program which devotes funding to public art equal to 1% of the City’s annual capital borrowing budget. During his campaign for Mayor, former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh identified a muncipal percent for public art initiatve as a top priority. Once in office, Mayor Walsh made good on his promise while MASSCreative and our adovcay partners ensured the public support for the program was there.
COVID-19 Relief and Recovery
In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic officially arrived in Massachusettsm when former Governor Baker declared a state of emergency ordering the closure of public spaces and mobilizing healthcare resources to care for communities ravaged by the pandemic’s spread. Like many sectors, the creative community sustained a massive economic shock in the wake of the pandemic. Thousands of artists and inpendent workers lost jobs and gigs, cultural nonprofits cancelled programs and furloughed staff, and creative small business owners saw revenues disappear. Throughout, MASSCreative lead adocacy and case-making campaigns to ensure the creative economy was a top priority for lawmakers when developing reopening plans and allocating reocovery funding.
Thanks to the network of stakeholders, advocates and partners, MASSCreative successfully secured $71M for creative sector support. This included $10M in Nonprofit Organizational Relief Funds and $61M in Creative Sector Recovery Funds both equitabilty distrubted by the Mass Cultural Council.
On November 15, 2024, the MASSCreative Action Network (MCAN) hosted an election debrief with community organizing and policy experts to learn how 2024 federal and state-level election results will impact the creative sector in Massachusetts. Watch the recording here.
Help get the vote out and play your part for a stronger democracy.
Check out our 2024 Create the Vote General Election Guides to see who is running for US Congress, State Senate, and State House of Representatives in Massachusetts.
Check out our 2024 Create the Vote Election Guides to see who is running for US Congress, State Senate, and State House of Representatives in Massachusetts.
On May 7, the Senate Ways and Means Committee announced their plan to fund the Mass Cultural Council at $25.5 million in FY25. Read for more information about the Senate Ways and Means Budget and take action for the Mass Cultural Council and Downtown Vitality Act.
A hearing for The Creative Space Preservation Act is set for Monday September 18 - learn how to join advocacy leaders in supporting this crucial bill.
MASSCreative’s Artivist Town Hall is a monthly webinar that connects artists and creatives with resources, training, and expert insights to support them in their creative practices and activism. This month, we welcomed Joyce Linehan and Erin O’Brien for a panel discussion about how public and cultural policies are written, how we create momentum to carry legislation, and how policies impact creative communities.
On July 24th Gov. Healey signed H.4890, An Act relative to salary range transparency into law. At MASSCreative, we support and celebrate this significant legislative achievement as a crucial step towards fostering equity, diversity, and transparency in the arts and culture sector.
In May 2024, Daniel Deutsch published a comprehensive cultural blueprint for the Pioneer Valley with recommendations for nurturing the arts ecosystem in Western Massachusetts. Continue reading for Daniel’s findings and report.
During this month's webinar, we focused on key updates and strategies for the creative sector in this crucial final month of the legislative session. Our main topics were the Senate’s Mass Leads Act and the inclusion of the Downtown Vitality Act in their version of the bill.
During this month's webinar, we provided updates on our advocacy around the FY25 Budget Conference Committee and previewed ways that the creative sector can benefit from the anticipated Mass Leads Act (Economic Development Bond Bill).
During this month's webinar, we reviewed the FY25 Senate Ways and Means Budget, talked about Emily's testimony on the Mass Leads Act, and shared about the South Coast creative community's recent success organizing a legislative roundtable.
During this month's webinar, we reviewed the FY25 House Ways and Means Budget, the state budget process, and the federal STAGES Act and CREATE Art Act. We also provided updates about our inaugural Creative Advocacy Institute happening on May 17th in Lowell, as well as this year's Create the Vote campaign season.
On Friday, March 8, 2024, MASSCreative used their monthly Policy & Advocacy Webinar to provide a federal funding update, review the Governor’s Economic Development Bond Bill, give a status update on the Creative Sector Legislative Agenda, and preview the FY25 State Budget. Read the blog to watch the recording and download the slideshow.
In this month's webinar, we recapped Creative Sector Advocacy Week in January and shared Joint Rule 10 outcomes for the Creative Sector Legislative Agenda. We also shared the news that Boston City Council unanimously passed a resolution endorsing the Creative Space Preservation Act.
On Friday, January 12, 2024, MASSCreative held the first of two trainings preparing arts and culture advocates for Creative Sector Advocacy Week 2024. During this Webinar, the MASSCreative team reviewed the schedule for Advocacy Week and shared tips and outlines for meeting with lawmakers and organizing advocacy meetings.
MASSCreative was joined by the Massachusetts Health Connector for a presentation on their open enrollment period. Open enrollment lasts now through January 23, 2024. See our webinar recording and linked resources to get started.
Check out the resources we shared at November’s Policy & Action Webinar.
There is a lot of misinformation on what a nonprofit can and cannot do when it comes to advocating for its interests and the needs of the communities they serve. Check out our Nonprofits and Advocacy Resource on how your organization effectively and confidently advocate for a more equitable and inclusive creative sector of all residents in the Commonwealth.
Check out the resources we shared at October’s Policy and Action Update Webinar.
During our September Policy & Action Update Webinar, we discussed how to prepare for Fall hearings and announced our Advocacy & Organizing Fellowship!
On Friday, November 22, 2024, MASSCreative welcomed 11 individuals into the 2024-2025 Advocacy & Organizing Fellowship during an in-person orientation at the Worcester Public Library.
Read Richeline's blog about attending the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. and how artists can play a role in strengthening communities and democracy.
Three months into the new year, the Massachusetts creative sector is celebrating significant policy milestones through the Creative Sector Legislative Agenda, Economic Development Bond Bill, and FY25 Budget.
It’s been an eventful and exciting year! In this letter, Emily shares her thoughts on our accomplishments in 2023 and things we’re looking ahead to in 2024.
Meet our 2023-2024 Advocacy and Organizing Fellows!
In November 2023, we held a town hall on the Downtown Vitality Act and the Co-Creative Center New Bedford.
