A quarterly report on our anti-racism work, including internal and external steps we are taking. (Image: Child participates in Brand Out with C1, an event hosted by Company One Theatre.)
Our Racial Equity Journey
Working to invest financial, programmatic, and informational resources equitably.
Agency invests in NAACBoston’s Mentorship & Sponsorship Program 2.0 (Image: 2022 Mentorship & Sponsorship Program participants laughing.)
We are pleased to partner with the Co-Directors of Arts Connect International (ACI) on launching the Cultural Equity Learning Community 2.0 (CELC 2.0), an asynchronous anti-racism course, this summer. CELC 2.0 was developed by ACI to support our arts and culture ecosystem — and its leadership — in progressing equitable practices.
Mass Cultural Council is providing financial support for up to 1,000 Massachusetts artists and cultural sector leaders to attend this training series in FY23.
They received the ESC Nonprofit Impact Leadership Award for committing to advancing racial equity and increasing support for under-resourced organizations. (Image: Mass Cultural Council Chair Nina Fialkow, Mass Cultural Council Executive Director Michael J. Bobbitt, ESC President Julie Crockford, and Mass Cultural Council Vice-Chair Marc Carroll.)
A quarterly report on our anti-racism work, including internal and external steps we are taking. (Image: ‘Wakpa’ Wheatpaste Mural at Tufts University Art Gallery. )
Mass Cultural Council unveiled an Anti-Racism Policy for Employees as a step forward to cultivating an anti-racist workplace.
This legislatively-mandated, one-time relief program was established by the MA House Asian Caucus. (Image: Wah Lum Kung Fu & Tai Chi Academy in Malden.)
A quarterly report on our anti-racism work, including internal and external steps we are taking. (Image: Drawing class in an Armenian Museum gallery)
A quarterly report on our anti-racism work, including internal and external steps we are taking. (Image: Dot Art participant holding a rock painted with the words “You are beautiful as you are.”)
These four engagement enthusiasts are help the Agency form new relationships and surface unmet community needs. (Image (l-r): Tran Vu, Erika Slocumb, Erin Genia, and Ana Masacote )
Working closely with our Executive Director, this new team will work – internally and externally – to advance the Agency’s equity, access, and inclusion goals. (Image, left-right: Catherine Cheng-Anderson, Director of People & Culture; Charles G. Baldwin, Access & Inclusion Program Officer; Cheyenne Cohn-Postell, Equity & Inclusion Program Officer.)
With the release of our first-ever Racial Equity Plan, Mass Cultural Council commits to doing the ongoing and long-term work of being both a racially equitable and anti-racist Agency. (Image: Racial Equity Plan cover, featuring a still image from the film “Drip Like Coffee” by Anaiis Cisco, Mass Cultural Council 2021 Film & Video Finalist.)
The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) released In Pursuit of Equity: Four Case Studies of State Arts Agencies, a report that describes how state arts agencies in four states—California, Maryland, Massachusetts, and South Carolina—have integrated equity principles across multiple aspects of their work. (Image: Cover art for In Pursuit of Equity)
On September 21, 2021 our governing Council convened virtually in a Special Meeting to review, discuss, and approve the Agency’s draft Racial Equity Plan. After a presentation of the draft plan and a follow-up discussion of the concepts of “colonization” and “decolonization” and what these terms mean in regard to Agency policy deliberations and cultural sector philanthropy, the Council showed its strong support by voting 14-0 to adopt the Racial Equity Plan.
Mass Cultural Council invested $130K in nonprofit media outlets to spotlight cultural nonprofits dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion. (Image: Maria Mitchell in Terry Jenoure’s MY BRONX, commissioned and presented by Eggtooth Productions.)