Move4ART

Boston  politics has always been ‘machine politics’–where power is centralized, consolidated, and tightly controlled in the hands of a few, ostensibly for the benefit of ‘the many.’  Unfortunately,  whoever happens to be wielding power understands ‘the many’ as mostly class- and color-coded. Every four years, however, the concept of ‘the many’ is really encouraged to breathe–to find its broadest possible expanse; to stretch to embrace and accommodate, in fact, enough of the voting public.  This is when those who wield power loosen the reigns long enough so some of the rainwater trickles down to the grassroots.  And like art, water is life. And so it is that today  Martin J. Walsh ‘s campaign signs have papered over Mattapan Square with ‘walking around money.’  Curiously though, the racially-displaced (’cause they ain’t from ’round here), candy-sucking panhandlers were no where to be found  today .  And in case you missed it, Ma...

The ICA/Boston 's Barbara Lee Foundation Theater  filled quickly for the "Cultural Planning Learning Session" after lunch on Novembe 18th.  After giving props to MassCreative 's Create the Vote campaign, the BCA 's Veronique LeMelle set the stage for the afternoon's presenters:   Julie Burros, Director of Cultural Planning for the City of Chicago , spoke from a practical perspective about Chicago's Cultural Plan and the need to develop a strategic plan that can carry cultural policies forward through multiple city administrations; and Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson, Senior Advisor to the Arts and Culture Program at the Kresge Foundation and an Obama appointee to the National Council on the Arts (NEA), who spoke from the perspective of one grounded in research. Dr. Jackson's overview of her key findings (summarized below) are drawn from her reflections on how urban planning research about arts and culture has progressed in recent years. (Hi...

First, we must give a double shout-out to MassCreative :  for mobilizing artists and arts organizations around a powerful idea, i.e., to " Create The Vote 2013" (implications for future campaigns?  We hope so.); and for facilitating arts-focused candidate forums.  Kudos are also due to WBUR 's TheARTery for " Arts and the Next Mayor: What Boston Wants and What it May Get "--digitally capturing (and archiving) an arts-focused approach to a campaign now winnowed to  Connolly On The Arts  and Walsh On The Arts .   'Cause here and now, TheARTery 's a time-saver as we try to figure out which of these two guys to vote for on Tuesday, 6 November 2013.   Problem is, plans for the arts being forwarded by the candidates are clearly cut from the same cloth--one woven by what TheARTery describes as "Boston's cultural community."   As a result  both candidates kinda sound alike when talking about how their administrations would ...

Mattapan (Environmental) Action Network's most recent post really captures the mood: Meh! Tuning N2 the Mayoral Race . 'Cause I have been feeling a lil "meh!" about the race; especially as the field ballooned and eventually winnowed. Under the circumstances we'll have to cast our vote based on each candidate's commitment to artists and access to "the ahts"--arts education, arts OST-programming, arts institutions, arts facilities, to arts as a portal to civic engagement.   Tomorrow we'll post our findings here.