City’s Officials Launch New Initiative, Boston Creates

Boston’s cultural planning process has been launched that will create a blueprint for arts and culture in the city, according to Mayor Martin J. Walsh.

Boston Creates will encourage residents, visitors and stakeholders to help local government identified cultural needs, opportunities, resources and to think about how these resources can help the community to achieve its civic goals, according to the Mayor.

Leadership Council and community team volunteers are being sought to participate in the process that will create a ten-year plan, designed to prioritize, coordinate, and align public and private resources to strengthen cultural vitality over the long term.

“Boston is a city of innovation, diverse city and collaboration-a city where creativity and imagination are some of our most powerful assets,” said Mayor Walsh in a press release. “Over the next fifteen months, we are going to look to all voices in the city to tell us what matters. This shared vision for the City will ensure all residents can fully experience and benefit from Boston’s vibrant arts and cultural life.”

In September 2014, Mayor Walsh appointed a 15-member steering committee, comprising representatives from City government and the arts. This committee was charged with recommending a cultural planning consultant team and advising the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture of their findings.

Upon the recommendation of the Steering Committee, Boston Creates will be led by the Cultural Planning Group, a consulting practice serving the field of arts and culture with some of the country’s foremost experts in organizational capacity building and public art.

            Locally, they will partner with WolfBrown and Archipelago Strategies to design a robust research methodology, understand the unique creative identity of Boston and create a plan based on the priorities of the community.