Arts + Policy

Haymarket art hauled off with no warning

Artist’s bronze ‘garbage’ sculptures removed amid roadwork

By Andy Metzger Haymarket, Mags Harries, MassDOT, public art, sculpture 0 Comments Oct 2, 2019

WITH NO NOTICE to the artist, a groundbreaking work of public art was ripped out of the ground in Boston’s Haymarket last Thursday and carted off. The art consists of bronze depictions of some of the castoff scraps from the city’s long-running pushcart marketplace – green beans, lettuce, newspapers. A contractor working on crosswalks for(...)

Barr donates $500,000 to MassDevelopment

Money goes for arts initiatives in Gateway Cities

By Bruce Mohl Arts and Culture 0 Comments Sep 24, 2019

THE BARR FOUNDATION on Tuesday donated $500,000 to MassDevelopment to augment the state agency’s arts-based programming in Gateway Cities. The money will be funneled into two pots. One pot of $285,000 will fund grants of $20,000 to $40,000 for projects that serve to promote local arts and infrastructure in districts within 16 Gateway Cities targeted(...)

Industry sets stage for film tax credit fight

Sunset for program looms on horizon

By Andy Metzger Film tax credit, New England Studios 0 Comments Sep 24, 2019

THE STATE’S CONTROVERSIAL film tax credit is due to expire on December 31, 2022, and that would mean curtains for several job-creating local businesses that have sprung up around the celluloid gravy train. The film tax credit debate should be interesting. It’s a maxim on Beacon Hill that it’s easier to block legislation from passing(...)

Orr statue now front and center at TD Garden

Monument of Bruins great moved to The Hub

By Andy Metzger Arts and Culture 0 Comments Sep 23, 2019

THE STATUE OF BRUINS GREAT Bobby Orr has a new home right in the middle of the new entrance to TD Garden dubbed The Hub. It’s a prominent spot for the sculpture of the defenseman depicted in mid-celebratory-dive after scoring the goal that clinched the Stanley Cup in 1970. The statue was moved on Sunday(...)

Trying to add some her to history

Bill would create statewide women’s rights trail

By Sarah Betancourt Arts and Culture, Massachusetts Legislature 0 Comments Sep 18, 2019

HISTORY HAS ALWAYS BEEN a big draw in Massachusetts, but the focus has overwhelmingly been on men. The Granary Burying Ground on Boston’s Freedom Trail features the graves of John Hancock, Paul Revere, Samuel Adams and other luminaries of the American Revolution-era. Tales of Boston Tea party leaders and the Kennedy political dynasty tend to(...)

The Hub: An impressive front door to Garden, N. Station

Semi-public space provides a link to city’s sports past

By Andy Metzger Development, Urban Affairs 0 Comments Sep 17, 2019

NOT LONG AGO, attending a game at TD Garden or taking a train out of North Station meant you would need to come and go through a nondescript side door. There was no real front entrance, and little besides the sheer size of the two facilities to distinguish the sports arena and transit center from(...)

Mass Cultural Council weathers Boston Herald storm

Lawmakers boost agency’s funding with minimal restrictions

By Andy Metzger Anita Walker, Boston Herald, Cultural Council 0 Comments Jul 26, 2019

STATE BUDGET-WRITERS put a gloss of stringency on their handling of the Massachusetts Cultural Council budget, but ultimately imposed few real restrictions on how the council conducts itself aside from new reporting requirements that accompany a hefty raise. The biggest change would be a $2 million increase in the state’s appropriation for the quasi-independent arts(...)

In Holyoke, arts education takes front seat

Non-profit helps integrate creativity into the regular curriculum

By Sarah Betancourt Arts and Culture, CW in Depth, Elementary and Secondary Education 0 Comments Jul 14, 2019

SIX-YEAR-OLD JUAN patted an inflatable ball as he peered out of his blue-rimmed glasses. Which way to send the ball? What could he knock down? Juan was playing “human bowling” in Kat Lorenzi’s kindergarten class in Holyoke. The objective was to get the ball to bounce off a few of his classmates, and figure out(...)

Arts agency gets reined in by lawmakers – and a raise

Cultural Council sees funding boost, but new restrictions too

By Andy Metzger Anita Walker, Brad Hill, Donald Humason, Massachusetts Cultural Council 0 Comments Jun 30, 2019

NO STATE AGENCY has taken more of a pounding from the press this year over its spending practices than the Massachusetts Cultural Council, but the agency is poised to emerge from the Beacon Hill budget-writing process with its highest appropriation in years, even if that comes with some new restrictions on its spending. How that(...)

Western Mass. ‘Hilltowns’ look for a foothold

Often overlooked region banks on tourism, arts, and history for revitalization

By Catherine Tumber Berkshires, CW in Depth, Hilltowns, Western Massachusetts 0 Comments Jun 20, 2019

THE ARRIVAL OF warmer weather means visitors will be flocking to the Berkshires, where a set of towns come to life as summer homes to renowned music and dance enterprises at Tanglewood and Jacob’s Pillow. They add to a year-round arts economy in the region anchored by the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North(...)