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ART CITIZENS
Adding fuel to the creative economy’s engine
BY ADAM REILLY
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After being eviscerated in the economic downturn that hit Massachusetts three years ago, funding for the state’s arts economy seems poised to continue its slow but steady recovery in the upcoming fiscal year. On April 29, the State House of Representatives voted to increase funding for the Massachusetts Cultural Council — the state’s lead grant-making organization for the arts — from $8.3 to $9.6 million in fiscal year 2006. (Governor Mitt Romney would level-fund most MCC programs, but drop the year-old John and Abigail Adams Arts Fund for economic development, thereby cutting the MCC’s total funding to $7.3 million. The House wants to add $500,000 to the Adams Arts Fund and another $800,000 to the MCC’s regular budget.) The Senate won’t finalize its recommendations until later this month, at the earliest. But given the Senate’s reputation as the more liberal of the legislature’s two bodies — and the generally amicable relationship between House Speaker Sal DiMasi and Senate president Robert Travaglini — chances are good that the Senate will, at the very least, match the House’s recommendation. Along with the creation of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development earlier this year, the legislature’s sustained interest in beefing up arts funding (see "Culture Cash," This Just In, May 28, 2004) suggests a widespread appreciation among Massachusetts politicians of the cultural sector’s economic benefits. It’s an appreciation Boston mayor Tom Menino seems to share. Menino’s proposed budget would increase funding for the Mayor’s Office of Arts, Tourism and Special Events from $1.544 million to $1.583 million, a raise of only about $39,000. But given that Menino level-funded the office last year, this is a deceptively noteworthy bit of progress. What’s more, on Monday the mayor unveiled Create Boston, an initiative aimed at helping potential or current creative entrepreneurs get low-cost loans, zoning advice, and various other kinds of small-business assistance. Creative types seeking aid from the city now have a point person in the Boston Redevelopment Authority — Carole Walton, Create Boston’s manager — whose sole job is to get them the help they need. Time will tell just how helpful Create Boston, which piggybacks on existing programs rather than introducing new ones, will actually be. But with Boston — and Massachusetts as a whole — struggling with serious financial constraints, finding low-cost, imaginative ways to move the creative economy forward isn’t a bad idea. Romney may not get it, but Menino and the House do. With any luck, the Senate will as well.
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