I’m delighted to introduce Art Wonk, a bi-weekly column from Boston Art Review’s Civic Culture Desk. I wish I could say it was by design that we are launching the column, which features a roundup of news and goings-on in arts, policy, and politics in time for Creative Sector Day at the Massachusetts State House, but sometimes serendipity is particularly generous and you just have to run with it. In a recently published feature, I sketch out some of my thoughts about the Civic Culture Desk project, and why we believe it’s important to build a media vertical focused on the intersection of art, culture, policy, and politics today. Reporting on the front lines of art is necessary because the cultural values that aesthetic practices visualize are not separate from geopolitics, but of them.
Mass. Governor Maura Healey Recommends 5-percent Increase in Appropriations to Fund Art in Massachusetts
Governor Healey filed her 2027 spending plan to the Legislature for consideration on January 29. The spending includes a 5-percent increase in appropriations to Mass Cultural Council (MCC), the state-level entity responsible for funding and writing policy that supports arts and culture in Massachusetts. If ratified into law by the Legislature this summer, the proposed 2027 budget of $27,348,072 would come close to being the largest operating budget for the independent state agency in the state’s history. However this is still well below the 1988 budget peak of $27,395,489—approximately $75.3 million adjusted for inflation—before 1992 budget cuts slashed appropriations for MCC by nearly 90 percent.
Mass Cultural Council receives additional funding from federal grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and 2 percent of state gaming revenue, but the appropriations from the state represent the lion’s share of income for the organization. In the context of significant federal funding cuts from the Trump administration, Governor Healey’s appropriation increase sends a message about the government’s recognition of the value that the arts contribute to the state.
New Mayor Jake Wilson Shakes Up Somerville Arts Council. Re-org Ousts Longtime Executive Director Greg Jenkins
Greg Jenkins’s tenure as executive director of the Somerville Arts Council ended just months shy of celebrating twenty-five years as the head of the organization. He was asked to step down from his position by the new city administration on February 9. Four days later, Jenkins made the city’s decision public via an open letter on Facebook announcing his departure.
Community demands on social media for answers as to why Jenkins was asked to step down provoked Mayor Wilson to issue a mea culpa on the city’s website and announce his new plans for the role of the arts in city governance. Changes announced in his letter include naming a new executive director of Somerville Arts and creating a new cabinet-level leader of a “Culture & Community Department overseeing Arts, Parks and Recreation, and Libraries, and finding artistic and cultural opportunities to activate these spaces and functions through a creative lens.” He explains that under this plan, “For the first time, arts and culture will have a seat at the cabinet level – the same level as Infrastructure, Public Health, and Strategic Planning.” This is a developing story that we will continue to monitor.
School of the Museum of Fine Arts Ratifies Labor Contract with Professors of Practice
SMFA at Tufts professors of the practice, represented by their union SEIU Local 509, ratified their first collective bargaining agreement with the university after a two-year negotiation process. This agreement represents an important milestone for area artists, many of whom rely on teaching as a primary source of reliable income. The agreement includes a pay raise and the university agreeing to cover green card and visa fees.
Victor “Marka 27” Quiñonez Exhibition Censored at University of North Texas Gallery
The exhibition “Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá” at the University of North Texas closed on February 11, after Boston-based artist and founder of mural consultancy Street Theory, Victor “Marka27” Quiñonez, received an email from the gallery’s director, Stefanie Dlugosz-Acton, saying that the loan agreement with Boston University had been terminated and that his work would be returned. The closure of the exhibition triggered student protests and faculty to release an unsigned open letter demanding transparency around the rationale for the university’s actions.
Porter Square Handcrafts Co-op Gallery Sign of the Dove to Close
After twenty-three years in their Porter Square Shopping Center location, Sign of the Dove handcraft co-op is set to lose its lease in April. An anonymous tip points to a new property owner and zoning changes as the cause. Having operated for over fifty-four years, including their tenure in the Porter Square location, the co-op is actively seeking a new storefront.
COMING UP
Creative Sector Day with Mass Creative at the MA State House
Join arts advocacy nonprofit MASSCreative on Tuesday, March 3 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in an annual convening of arts organizations and leaders at the Massachusetts State House. Learn about how artists and arts organizations can work together to advocate for government policies that support creatives and creative work. More than forty performers and artists are scheduled to exhibit between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. in the Great Hall.
Register to participate (and sign up for a free bus ride to State House in Boston. Buses available from Northampton, Springfield, and Worcester)
Not in Boston? You can still get involved! Here’s a map of advocacy events across the state.
NEFA Turns Fifty
The New England Foundation for the Arts celebrates fifty years since its founding with a year of grants and celebratory programming. Check out its website for opportunities to get involved. Stay tuned for the next roundup in two weeks.
Have content you’d like us to consider? Share your tips with us! Email kim@bostonartreview.com.
