Over the next eight months, the race to elect a new governor of Massachusetts will provide candidates and voters the opportunity to discuss the strengths and challenges of the Commonwealth and debate our vision to strengthen the economy, improve our schools, and make our communities healthier and safer. It’s an exciting and important time.
MASSCreative and the Create the Vote coalition will work with the statewide creative community to make sure that arts, culture, and creativity are an integral part of this important discussion. The Arts Matter in the Commonwealth, so they should matter in this election. We will be meeting tonight from 6-7:30 at Hibernian Hall, 184 Dudley St., Boston to plan the campaign. Please join us!
The arts drive our economy, educate our kids—and us, and make our neighborhoods more lively and welcoming places to live. Nonprofit arts and cultural organizations provide more than 45,000 jobs, generate $4.6 billion of economic activity annually. And every dollar spent by an arts and cultural organization generates another $2.30 in sales for nearby businesses.
The artistic process fosters analytical thinking, problem solving, and innovation. Arts instruction improves performance across all academic disciplines, and students engaged in sequential arts education are more involved in school. Investing in arts programming can turn around failing schools and nurture children from under-resourced neighborhoods.
Art also creates vibrant communities. Arts and cultural events provide the opportunities for socializing that create safe and connected neighborhoods. An arts center can be a place of connection for young families. A local theater can anchor a neighborhood block and ensure a steady stream of business for nearby restaurants and bars. Public art can provide unexpected moments of surprise and delight that connect us all to a place.
Despite all this, many of our leaders still see the arts as nice, but not necessary. Arts funding in the state is barely half of what it was a decade ago and a third of what it was 25 years ago. Arts education programs are shrinking and there is no requirement of at least one year of arts instruction for admission to Massachusetts state universities. While many of our leaders are vocal supporters of the arts, few are champions who make arts and culture one of their priorities.
Imagine what we could accomplish if public investment and support in the arts matched the public benefits we all enjoy from the creative community?
We need a governor who believes that Arts Matter and is a champion of the arts, who will attend our events, talk about their importance, and lead the charge to support arts, culture, and creativity in Massachusetts.
That is why we are taking our Create the Vote campaign statewide. You may have heard that our Create the Vote campaign elevated the issues of arts, culture, and creativity in the Boston mayoral election. We have a unique opportunity in the months ahead to raise the profile of arts, culture, and creativity in the governor’s race.
Join us as we take Create the Vote 2014 statewide so we can ensure that our next governor is a champion of the arts. Over the next eight months you will have the opportunity to work with creative sector leaders and supporters across the Commonwealth to:
- Broadcast and share the stories of impact that the creative sector has on our communities
- Sit down face to face with the gubernatorial candidates to share views about the arts and cultural sector
- Engage voters on why “Arts Matter” and why arts, culture and creativity are an important issue in this year’s campaign
- “Artsdog” the candidates to engage them in discussion in person and through social media about their platforms.
