Arts + Policy

Should private colleges open libraries to public?

Local schools have different policies, priorities

By Colman M. Herman Arts and Culture 0 Comments Jan 1, 2020

LOCAL PRIVATE COLLEGES are divided on whether to open or close their libraries to the public. Harvard University, Northeastern University, and Emerson College don’t allow members of the public to use their libraries, but Boston College, Boston University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Tufts University have no problem at all with it. The contrasting(...)

Couple turns old mill into sprawling arts complex

The struggle behind the scenes at Holyoke’s Gateway City Arts Center

By Linda Enerson Arts and Culture 0 Comments Dec 31, 2019

VITEK KRUTA, a professional painter, sculptor, and conservator, originally went looking more than a decade ago for a larger studio space in Holyoke. Instead, he and his life partner, Lori Divine-Hudson, stumbled into something very different. They came across two rambling buildings with more than an acre of floor space — the factory and adjacent(...)

Mass. Cultural Council secures gambling funds

Intends to pilot prescription arts programs in Berkshires, Springfield

By Bruce Mohl Arts and Culture, Charlie Baker, Massachusetts Legislature 0 Comments Dec 24, 2019

A correction has been added to this story. THE LONG-DELAYED closeout spending bill that finally passed on December 15 contained a provision funneling 2 percent of the tax revenue from the state’s two resort casinos into a fund that the Massachusetts Cultural Council hopes will support arts institutions as well as low-income people who can’t(...)

Say hello to Nubian Square

Mayor predicts panel will OK new name for Dudley Square

By Andy Metzger Dudley Square, Faneuil Hall, Jersey Street, Nubian Square, Yawkey Way 0 Comments Dec 18, 2019

THERE’S NO BRONZE traitor astride a horse. No statue whatsoever. In fact, it can be a little tricky to suss out who exactly Dudley Square is named after. But this era’s moral reckoning with villains from the past will soon shove aside the timeworn geographic honorific memorializing Thomas Dudley, a colonial functionary who was in(...)

Using art to highlight Eastie climate change

At library, ribbons show potential sea level rise

By Sarah Betancourt Climate change 0 Comments Dec 6, 2019

IT’S AN UNUSUAL SIGHT: Colored ribbons 18-feet-long stretched taut over steel bars, melting into brightly colored duct tape clinging to pavement outside the East Boston Public Library. The creators of the collaborative art installation, called “RisingEMOTIONS,” say it visualizes the public’s emotional state about flooding due to sea level rise. The project is led by(...)

Changing the climate change conversation

What cultural organizations can do to educate the public

By William “Billy” Spitzer Climate change, New England Aquarium 0 Comments Dec 3, 2019

DATA FROM THE Yale Project on Climate Communication reveals the surprising fact that 70 percent of Americans understand that climate change is occurring, but 64 percent shy away from discussing it. They find the topic too daunting, too polarizing, or perhaps best left to scientists. However, climate change is not just the purview of scientists, academics,(...)

Hey, Beacon Hill, pay attention to the arts

Shortchanged for too long, we need a dedicated funding stream

By Emily Ruddock and Karen Ristuben Arts and Culture 0 Comments Nov 23, 2019

IN 1973, LED ZEPPELIN played to hordes of adoring fans at the Boston Garden on its blockbuster US tour, just over 80,000 people attended the MFA’s exhibit “Soviet Union: Arts and Crafts in Ancient Times,” and Massachusetts lawmakers established the Special Committee on the Arts to establish a model for arts funding at the local(...)

Film tax credit sunset looms

Rodrigues: ‘I still have concerns about the cost’

By Bruce Mohl Film tax credit, Massachusetts Legislature, Taxes and Budget Issues 0 Comments Nov 11, 2019

THE CHAIR OF THE SENATE WAYS AND MEANS Committee sounds as if he is in no hurry to eliminate the sunset provision contained in the state’s film tax credit law. The tax credit, launched in 2006 and scheduled to sunset on December 31, 2022, has been the focus of a number of attempts to eliminate(...)

Aquarium not making in-lieu-of-tax cash payments to Boston

Says no other aquarium or zoo in the US makes such contributions

By Colman M. Herman Arts and Culture, Taxes and Budget Issues 0 Comments Nov 3, 2019

THE NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM, suggesting nonprofit cultural institutions like itself are already contributing enough, says it won’t be making any in-lieu-of-tax cash payments to the city of Boston this fiscal year. In a letter to the city’s assessor, Eric Krauss, the aquarium’s executive vice president, said the nonprofit institution is an essential component of the(...)

DCR begins charging Community Boating rent

Starts at $5,000 a year, rises to $50,000 after 9 years

By Colman M. Herman Arts and Culture, State Government 0 Comments Oct 27, 2019

COMMUNITY BOATING INC., the nonprofit public sailing center located on the banks of the Charles River in Boston, is now paying rent to the state Department of Conservation and Recreation. The rental agreement represents the first time the sailing center has ever paid anything more than a token rent to the state agency that owns(...)