Power of Culture Blog
Governor Signs Executive Order to Establish Massachusetts’ First-Ever Poet Laureate
This new, honorary position is intended to promote poetry and creative expression across the state
Michael J. Bobbitt, Executive Director
I know how hard this moment feels. I’ve been in your shoes—leading arts organizations through crisis after crisis. I’ve had to navigate the fallout of the 2009 financial collapse, recover from a devastating fire, deal with the 2016 government shutdown of an arts organization in a federal park, and steer an organization through the terrifying first year of the pandemic. I know the stress, the uncertainty, the sleepless nights. But I also know the strength, creativity, and resilience of this sector.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, please take a deep breath. You are not alone. We have weathered storms before, and we will weather this one, too. Now more than ever, I encourage you to take care of yourselves, lean on your community, and remember the power of your creativity. This sector has always been at its best when we are proactive, resourceful, and unwavering in our belief in the work we do.
We are thankful that here in Massachusetts the arts, sciences, and humanities enjoy strong support from within the Healey-Driscoll Administration and the state Legislature, but like all who receive federal funding, we were troubled by the announcement of an impending federal funding freeze late last month, and we actively sought to learn and understand what steps might follow.
A long-term freeze in federal grant making would have significantly and negatively impacted many in the Commonwealth’s cultural sector. Mass Cultural Council receives funding annually from the National Endowment for the Arts which furthers the reach of our own grant making to support folk and traditional arts, cultural organizations, and youth arts initiatives like Poetry Out Loud. We were relieved when the funding freeze was rescinded but are continuing to pay close attention and connect with colleagues within Massachusetts and nationally as more is revealed.
While we don’t anticipate that any of this year’s grants will be affected, we are carefully monitoring developments and will notify you if things change. Grantees are encouraged to make sure their preferred email address is on file in our grants management system and should read and respond as directed to any incoming messages from Mass Cultural Council.
We know that, as cliché as it sounds, change is the only constant. But change around us does not have to mean we change who we are and what we do. So, we wish to reaffirm our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and access. Mass Cultural Council works to invest our resources equitably. We also help by providing leadership to repair, heal, and build toward a creative and cultural sector where racial diversity flourishes, decolonization of art and the cultural sector is achieved, and inclusion and belonging is the norm. A vision of the world that honors a breadth of viewpoints makes for a richer and more productive cultural sector.
Seeing the world through different perspectives and bringing those ideas to life is the charge of the cultural sector and its leaders. Mass Cultural Council supports these creative visions and visionaries with co-creative, innovative, equitable, inclusive, and decolonized programming and grant making, and we will continue to do so.
We also wish to reaffirm our commitment to advancing the cultural sector by building relationships that will raise awareness of the arts as essential and potentially unlock additional resources in the form of new contracts, fees for services, and grant dollars from other state agencies and the private sector to support your work, like the scaling of our arts-based social prescription work. Some of the people we’ve had great conversations with recently include the Department of Conservation & Recreation and the Bureau of Substance Abuse. Two groups who truly understand the value of our sector’s work and its ability to improve the quality of life for all. We will keep you informed of our relationship building, and we encourage you to continue your work forging new relationships within your community.
Let’s not wait for the next crisis to dictate our future. The arts have always been a force for transformation, not just survival. Now is the time to step boldly into our power—to advocate, to innovate, to forge new partnerships, and to redefine what sustainability looks like for our sector. We are economic drivers, healers, educators, and catalysts for change. If we stand together, if we tap into the boundless creativity that defines us, we can build something even stronger than what came before. The work continues, but so does our brilliance. Let’s get to it.
