Arts + Policy

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(...)

This is the wrong time to cut arts education

Schools should not be focused just on tested subjects

By Brenda Cassellius and Marinell Rousmaniere Elementary and Secondary Education 0 Comments Jul 30, 2020

IN TIMES of great financial strain and uncertainty, arts education is often the first thing cut from the school curriculum. Indeed, several school districts across the Commonwealth have already laid off teachers and arts educators in the face of expected budget cuts and an unpredictable fall. Some districts may be anticipating a stricter focus on(...)

Pandemic devastating to arts and culture sector

Will take years to recover, lawmakers are told

By Katie Lannan arts, culture 0 Comments Jul 16, 2020

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE ARTS AND culture sector, a major piece of the Massachusetts economy, will need hundreds of millions of dollars and multiple years to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, according to testimony delivered to state senators on Wednesday. Senators have been holding a series of listening sessions to gauge(...)

Italian-American pride means goodbye, Columbus

Let's honor ancestors worthy of recognition

By Lisa Green 0 Comments Jul 3, 2020

I’VE BEEN THINKING a lot about Christopher Columbus lately. That wasn’t always the case. Growing up an Italian-American kid, in an Italian-American town in New Jersey, we had summer feasts celebrating our Italian pride—but Columbus never entered my mind much, beyond the day off from school. When I had my own children and began raising(...)

Art for everyone’s sake

Without financial relief, the arts will become inaccessible to all but a few

By Craig Coogan and Emily Ruddock 0 Comments Jun 17, 2020

DYSTOPIAN STORYTELLING IMAGINES time and place without light, color, and life—elements that art, music and performance provide. We’ve had a taste of it during these many weeks at home, and it’s changing the world around us. If we’re not careful, these changes could be with us long after the coronavirus is gone. The arts are(...)