Arts + Policy

Arts programming in Boston schools linked to attendance, engagement gains

Study finding follows decade-long effort to boost arts in district

By Michael Jonas 0 Comments May 10, 2021

A NEW STUDY says an effort to increase arts programming in the Boston Public Schools has helped boost student attendance and promote student and parent engagement with schools, outcomes that arts supporters say provide added rationale for maintaining or enhancing the role of arts in the schools. For students receiving arts programming, the study found(...)

Stark differences make many Mass. communities neighbors in name only

Municipal boundaries often separate cities and towns with wide demographic differences

By Garrett Dash Nelson 0 Comments May 1, 2021

IN 1847, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ordered that a line be drawn from the mouth of the Shawsheen River, down along its eastern bank, and “thence in a straight line westerly, to a marked stone in the wall … by Jacob Barnard’s house.” This formed the first two legs of the boundary of the new(...)

House follows Mariano’s lead on film tax credit

Budget amendment does away with sunset provision

By Bruce Mohl Film tax credit, Taxes and Budget Issues 0 Comments Apr 26, 2021

THE HOUSE, getting in line behind a high priority of Speaker Ron Mariano, unanimously passed a budget amendment on Monday that would do away with the planned sunset of the film tax credit program at the end of next year. The vote was 160-0, with no one in the chamber dissenting despite a recent report(...)

Maverick Square, which honors state’s first slave owner, should be renamed

Diverse Boston crossroads should not carry the stain of ignominious history

By Annamarie Hoey 0 Comments Apr 17, 2021

SHE CAME TO the window around 9 a.m., singing in a loud, high-pitched voice. Her words were foreign, but they communicated a sense of sorrow so powerful that John Josselyn was left shaken. “Going out to her,” Josselyn later recounted in his journal, he was met with “a great deal of respect” from a striking(...)

Tax breaks not on House budget chief’s radar

Michlewitz served on tax expenditure commission

By Bruce Mohl Massachusetts Legislature 0 Comments Apr 14, 2021

THE HOUSE’S TOP budget official said his spending plan for fiscal 2022 doesn’t address outdated or ineffective tax breaks highlighted in a recent commission report and he doesn’t plan to push for separate legislation to deal with them. Rep. Aaron Michlewitz of Boston, the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, served on the(...)

Public art can help drive our post-pandemic renewal

Shared cultural displays are 'expressive and democratic' at their core

By Kate Gilbert 0 Comments Mar 30, 2021

A YEAR INTO the global pandemic and the once-familiar roar of people, cars, and activity in Boston is still a memory. The feeling of life in suspension persists. Yet, glimmers of hope sparkle as vaccines roll out, days lengthen, and workers return. Now is the time to imagine how we safely and equitably reopen Boston(...)

Film tax credit backers say they have the votes

Dispute findings of tax expenditure commission

By Bruce Mohl Film tax credit, Massachusetts Legislature 0 Comments Mar 26, 2021

SUPPORTERS OF THE state’s film tax credit, which came under fire this week from a commission examining Massachusetts tax breaks, say they have the votes to pass legislation that would make the tax credit permanent. The credit, which under current law is scheduled to sunset on January 1, 2023, provides a tax credit equal to(...)

13 views on how the pandemic will shape the future

One year after COVID hit, taking stock of the ‘new normal’

By CommonWealth Staff 0 Comments Mar 9, 2021

IT WAS A YEAR AGO this week that it became clear how completely our world would be turned upside down. After mounting global concern about a deadly new respiratory illness originating in China, the novel coronavirus, as we initially referred to it, established a firm foothold in the US and the country was soon in(...)

Meet Michael Bobbitt, state’s new arts leader

‘Arts and culture is inherently a social justice medium’

By Bruce Mohl 0 Comments Feb 8, 2021

THE LIFE STORY of Michael Bobbitt is probably very similar to what he would like to replicate for residents statewide as he takes over as the executive director of the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Bobbitt, as a young boy growing up in Maryland just outside Washington, DC, was exposed to the arts, took a strong interest,(...)

There are many Amanda Gormans out there

Unique and powerful voices are all around us

By Jessica Drench Arts and creativity 0 Comments Feb 4, 2021

RIGHT NOW, poetry has our attention. On January 20, Amanda Gorman, the youngest inaugural poet in US history, performed her breathtaking poem The Hill We Climb in front of 40 million viewers. The power and sublime beauty of her words, the grace of her poetic hand gestures, and the brilliance with which she captured this(...)