Arts + Policy

Elite artists face challenges on green cards

How do you prove ‘extraordinary ability’ during pandemic?

By Sarah Betancourt Arts and Culture, Immigration 0 Comments Nov 26, 2020

EVEN ELITE ARTISTS are having difficulty getting green cards for permanent residency in the United States. The federal government is on pace to issue 32 percent fewer green cards this year to those with “extraordinary artistic ability.” Part of the downturn is the result of a slowdown in processing applications for the visas due to(...)

How we’re staying afloat at the New England Aquarium

Innovation and fortitude are key for vital cultural institutions

By Vikki Spruill 0 Comments Oct 26, 2020

THIS YEAR’S rapid-fire turn of events is stunning. Minute to minute, day by day, we face a new reality. It’s no different leading one of Boston’s most popular and beloved cultural institutions in the year when we planned to celebrate our 50th anniversary. Then, it all turned upside down. To give you a sense of the(...)

Historic homes struggle to reopen in COVID-compliant way

With small spaces and little ventilation, many sites remain closed

By Shira Schoenberg arts, coronavirus 0 Comments Oct 25, 2020

THE YEAR 2020 was shaping up to be a banner year for the Orchard House in Concord, the home where Louisa May Alcott lived and wrote the classic book Little Women. On Christmas 2019, the Greta Gerwig film adaptation of Little Women was released, set in a replica of Orchard House. By February, visits to(...)

Castle Rock’s impact called significant

Groups push for repeal of film tax credit sunset date

By Bruce Mohl Film tax credit, Massachusetts Legislature 0 Comments Oct 22, 2020

A STUDY BILLED as the first of its kind indicates the initial season of Hulu’s Castle Rock television series received a projected $14.6 million in film tax credits from the state and generated $69 million of total economic output in Massachusetts – a return of $4.73 for every dollar of tax credit. The study is(...)

Museums refocus and reinvent to survive COVID

Capacity limits, declining attendance are hurting revenue

By Shira Schoenberg 0 Comments Oct 18, 2020

JANE PARKER LIVES in Harvard, and over the years, she has visited the neighboring Fruitlands Museum for big events, like February’s Winterfest. In early October, Parker returned to Fruitlands to hike for the first time on the museum’s three miles of trails. She met an old friend and they planned to briefly stop in the galleries, then take(...)

Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day

It’s time to move beyond the falsehoods of Columbus Day

By Jack Patrick Lewis and Lindsay Sabadosa 0 Comments Oct 11, 2020

THE UNITED STATES is grappling with the legacy of slavery, systemic racism, and oppression. This requires us, as responsible citizens, to reflect on our own lives, and question our long-held assumptions. We need, furthermore, to intentionally support efforts to dismantle the stereotypes and bigotry ingrained in our country’s history and culture. Calendars mark the second(...)

The era of Christopher Columbus is over

As we de-sanitize history, let’s do it with humility

By James Aloisi race and ethnicity 0 Comments Oct 10, 2020

WHEN I WAS A KID growing up on the second floor of an East Boston triple decker, Columbus Day was a pretty big deal. Alternating with the North End, the grand parade organized by local civic groups passed by our house every other year, and we would either watch from the windows or, more often,(...)

Fitchburg pinning revival hopes on arts and culture

One-time mill city looks ahead in effort to rekindle past vitality

By Michael Jonas Fitchburg, Richard Florida, Stephen DiNatale 0 Comments Sep 23, 2020

FITCHBURG MAYOR Stephen DiNatale’s office bears all the markings of the workspace of a small-city Massachusetts leader working hard to pull up his community, a place that has struggled for years following the exodus of industries that once made mill towns like this hum with economic vigor. There are sketches of planned development projects, a(...)

Cambridge arts groups seek city COVID relief funds

Organizations say they are in danger of closing permanently

By Sarah Betancourt Arts and Culture 0 Comments Sep 7, 2020

BEFORE THE PANDEMIC, Improv Boston averaged about 2,000 patrons a week who watched its comedy shows and participated in acting classes at its Central Square location. Now, almost six months after it closed in compliance with state coronavirus rules, the nonprofit improvisational theater is asking the city of Cambridge for help. “Due to necessary public(...)

Will the shows go on in Pittsfield?

Stage productions seek exemption from outdoor gathering limits

By Bruce Mohl arts, Berkshires, Pittsfield, theater 0 Comments Aug 11, 2020

THE OLD ADAGE that the show must go on is facing a real test out in the Berkshires. The story begins in mid-March, when the coronavirus shut down the stage lights on Broadway and plunged regional theaters across the country into darkness. Actors’ Equity, which represents 51,000 actors and stage managers nationwide, barred its members(...)