Advancement & Strategic Partnerships
We believe in the power of culture to strengthen communities, foster creativity and entrepreneurship, and bring about positive change. Through strategic partnerships we are working to position the arts and culture sector as a visible, recognized resource and an essential partner in problem solving across the Commonwealth.
In FY24 Mass Cultural Council launched a strategic plan that introduced a new component of our role as a public agency – advancing the cultural sector. Advancement is focused on taking a new approach to supporting our sector by broadening the reach of the arts and culture into the other sectors that we have impact and outcomes in every day.
With this new strategic focus, the Agency is developing partnerships, resources, and economic opportunities for the cultural community across all sectors in Massachusetts, integrating the arts into other fields of practice and expanding cross-sector opportunities.
Through our advancement efforts, our goals are to:
Grantmaking is one tool we have been utilizing to support the cultural community in Massachusetts. Advancement is another, with the potential for meaningful, measurable change for the sector. It is a long-term strategic initiative that is focused on changing the way our sector is understood, recognized, and utilized.
Why Advancement
Our advancement work is built on the idea that sustainable support for the arts will not come solely from the arts, philanthropy, or government resources. Rather, we need to focus on building new opportunities with the sectors we have demonstrated, positive outcomes in. As we begin, two of the primary challenges facing the Commonwealth are workforce development and retention and affordable health care. Healthcare occupies more than 40% of the Massachusetts budget each year. Yet we have data that supports the arts as an effective and cost-effective wellness intervention. We also know that creativity is among the most sought-after skills employers are looking for, yet the arts sector remains underemployed and largely earns less than a living wage, according to the 2024 Massachusetts Cultural Asset Inventory.
Early Successes
Advancement is an important step in broadening the story and impact of existing work of arts and culture in the Commonwealth. Some examples of early success in this cross-sector work include:
In Health Care
Mass Cultural Council partnered with Art Pharmacy to create the only statewide arts prescription program in the United States. This involves two insurance companies and a clinic at Mass General Brigham Hospital paying for the therapeutic benefit that existing arts programming provides.
In addition to piloting social prescription in Massachusetts from 2020-23, the role of Mass Cultural Council in the ongoing expansion of arts prescription includes developing the network of participating arts and culture organizations, and developing new business opportunities for cross-sector organizations and agencies to financially support the therapeutic benefit of arts prescriptions.
Franklin, Massachusetts is the only city in the United State using Opioid Relief Funding to support arts prescriptions as a means of treatment and mitigation of misuse of opioid drugs. This work grew from a presentation by Mass Cultural Council about arts prescriptions which led to a connection between the Franklin Local Cultural Council and Cory Shea, the Director of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy for the City of Franklin, who brought it to the Deputy and Town administrators of Franklin.
Mass Cultural Council is using the Town of Franklin as a model and call to action for other communities. We are working with Mass Municipal Association to encourage additional municipalities to follow Franklin’s lead.
The Department of Public Health is currently funding Arts Prescriptions for seniors in Springfield, Massachusetts. The Department of Health Bureau of Substance Addiction Services has funded the Education Development Corporation (EDC) in Springfield to support seniors – particularly seniors of color – who are at risk of social isolation and prescription drug abuse during life transitions (loss of a partner, move to assisted living, etc). EDC is using a significant portion of that funding to deploy arts prescriptions in that area.
This partnership grew from a presentation by Mass Cultural Council at an all-staff meeting of the Bureau of Substance addiction services.
In Transportation
In Economic Development
The Cultural Districts Initiative Task Force, involving 24 different state agencies, is leveraging new resources to support cultural districts and the cultural sector as economic drivers at the local level. Mass Cultural Council brought together these partners to create a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of local cultural districts and to leverage that understanding into re-imagining the state’s Cultural District Initiative.
Supporting Policy
As policy is an important lever in systemic change, a key component of our advancement work will also be supporting policy for, and including, the arts and culture sector, along with our partners in the field.
In March 2024, Governor Maura Healey issued Executive Order No. 631: Establishing the Governor’s Cultural Policy Development Advisory Council (which was later amended by Executive Order No. 634). This order brought together a group of people from across the Commonwealth to develop a policy agenda for the cultural sector. In April, the Healey-Driscoll Administration released policy recommendations that would support growing the Massachusetts creative economy.
We will continue to support the development of a robust policy agenda to create systemic progress for our field in the coming years that positions the arts and culture as an essential asset for Massachusetts.
Ongoing Resources
The Agency also curates numerous cross-sector opportunities via:
We believe that advancement is a long-term strategy that can dramatically impact and broaden the support for, and understanding of, our sector, and we will continue to provide updates on new resources and sources of funding as this work progresses.
Interested in exploring a strategic partnership? Please reach out to Erik Holmgren or Carolyn Cole.
