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Register for Upcoming Creative Space DNA Sessions

Jay Paget, Program Director

graphic with text Creative Space DNA (Development Network Accelerator)In partnership with the ArtStaysHere Coalition, Mass Cultural Council invites you to be a part of the Creative Space Development Network Accelerator (DNA).

Monthly Zoom sessions bring together artists, cultural organizations, entrepreneurs, developers, and anyone operating and advocating for creative space in their community.

Each session highlights the work of practitioners in the field. So far, we’ve featured:

While each Creative Space DNA session focuses on a particular aspect of creative space building, we always make sure there’s time for questions and discussion.

Our goal is to provide an open and dynamic practitioner network of actively engaged space operators and advocates.

Join Creative Space DNA on the last Friday of the month at 12pm.

July 31, 2026 –  Open Discussion
An open discussion of all things space related with no featured speaker. Many of us have questions and many of us have answers relating to how we’ve developed or preserved a space. As a network of practitioners, we can offer advice and make connections, which makes us more effective. Stop by with questions, concerns, and challenges.

September 25, 2026 – Understanding Leases
Understanding and negotiating leases for artists and organizations in commercial and industrial spaces is challenging. We’ll cover various real time scenarios, share tips and best practices, and hear from those with legal and practical expertise as it relates to leasing creative spaces in Massachusetts.

Featuring:

  • Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
  • Bellforge Art Center
  • Gloucester Center for the Arts
  • Charlestown Rehearsal Studios

October 30, 2026 – Municipal Creative Trusts
Every community in Massachusetts is feeling the squeeze of rising real estate values, sometimes placing local artist studios, maker spaces, and cultural venues at risk of displacement. While private land trusts and mission-based developers are an important piece of the puzzle, municipalities can be front and center with policies and a municipal trust model.

Drawing on pioneering work by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) in partnership with Somerville, this session delves into how local governments can develop policies and zoning tools to project and advance creative spaces. And how those tools are complemented by a Municipal Creative Trust mechanism to help finance, develop, and protect affordable creative spaces, much like with housing.

Featuring:

  • Metropolitan Area Planning Council
  • Somerville Arts Council
  • Mass Creative

November 20, 2026 – Adaptive Reuses of Houses of Worship

Houses of worship can be re-imagined as creative spaces for the arts while still accommodating a congregation’s needs. In this session we’ll hear from practitioners who have pioneered this dual model of use with the arts organization now in the lead operating position and the congregation partially of fully relieved of the stewardship of the building.

Each of our presenters participated in a Mass Cultural case study on this topic, which will be released before the session.

Featuring:

  • Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre, Cambridge
  • Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity, Florence
  • Steeple Playhouse, New Bedford

 

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