There is increasing recognition of the importance of the Massachusetts Creative Sector, which employs more than 100,000 people, drives tourism and generates billions in economic impact. Both the Commonwealth and the City of Boston—with one-third of the state’s creative workforce—have stepped up investment in the social and physical infrastructure supporting creative workers.

• Creative Economy Industry Director in the Massachusetts Office of Business Development, coordinates statewide investments and strategies to support emerging for-profit creative ventures such as the film industry, the MA design industry employing roughly 45,000, video gaming and advertising as well as non-profit cultural organizations and individual artists.
• The Massachusetts marketing initiative It’s All Here is aimed at branding the Commonwealth as a hub of creative industries.
• The Boston Redevelopment Authority and the City of Boston establishedCreate Boston—the economic development engine for Boston’s for- and non-profit cultural industries—and the new Boston World Partnership  to raise awareness of Boston’s creative and innovative capital, build capacity and networks across Boston’s emerging industries and drive economic growth.

Increasingly, the intersection between creative and high-tech industries in Mass and Boston are cultivating 21^st century creative economic growth as well as presenting solutions to some of the most pressing social challenges from global worming to community development. (See also Technology Highlights). Massachusetts has a growing design industry which employs more than 44,000 and is becoming a leader in creative technologies, including one of the world’s largest digital video game development clusters, with 76 companies generating $2 billion in economic activity, according to theMass Technology Leadership Council. Massachusetts and Boston are also growing a strong digital advertising and marketing sector with firms such as Digitas, one of the world’s largest advertising firms and an innovator in digital marketing.

Architects and designers in Massachusetts and Boston are increasingly linking their work to sustainable development and liveable communities. TheGreen Roundtableis a Boston-based nonprofit aimed at increasing the scale of green design and building,Shift Bostonis a new design competition to promote innovative, public and sustainable design within the city of Boston, andBuild Bostonis the region’s largest convention that links the design and construction industries with a focus on sustainability and theBoston Society of Architects has convened a Committee on the Advancement of Sustainability as a to reduce greenhouse gasses by 2030.

Arts education is increasingly recognized for its capacity to boost children’s creative thinking and problem-solving skills essential to Greater Boston’s knowledge and innovation economy. Some 70% of BPS students receive some type of performing or visual arts instruction on a regular basis, though opportunities become less frequent as children more from elementary to middle school to high school (see Indicator 2.5.2). The Boston Arts Expansion plan has set a goal of 100% of BPS K-8 students engaged in weekly arts instruction by 2012 with increased collaboration and alignment with the nonprofit cultural sector that is already working in half of Boston’s schools. Statewide, theMassachusetts Advocates for Arts, Sciences and Humainties have been pushing for aCreative Challenge Indexas a counterpart to MCAS to measure the extent to which schools foster creative learning. 

The Commonwealth’s support for the arts remained consistent despite fears and uncertainty in the current recession. From FY06 to FY09, funding for the Mass Cultural Council increased 31% to $12.7 million and the Legislature has continued its support for the Cultural Facilities Fund, which the Governor credited with generating $200 million in economic activity. Since the 2005 Film Tax Credit, and upgrades made in 2007, Massachusetts and Boston have experienced a surge of high-profile films being shot and produced locally. However, the actual economic impact of this industry remains hotly debated.

Greater Boston is creating a dense and diverse cultural nonprofit landscape; however, the number of organizations has grown faster than available private funding, leaving many small and mid-sized organizations particularly vulnerable to the economic recession. A recent report released by The Boston Foundation,Vital Signs: Metro Boston’s Arts and Cultural Nonprofits, 1999 and 2004 found that while the number of organizations had increased by 17% between 1999 and 2004, government and foundation funding of these organizations stagnated or declined (see Indicator 2.7.3). The report also found that while Greater Boston’s population is inclined to value the arts, measures of participation such as revenue and ticket sales have been declining, which put smaller organizations at increased risk of closure or merger.

Public-private partnerships and investment are building the infrastructure to support the health of the nonprofit sector and individual artists. Despite the tenuous nature of funding for the cultural sector, collaborative public/private initiatives and innovations are helping to build the capacity of smaller organizations and individual artists.The Massachusetts Cultural Data Project, a partnership among area foundations and theMassachusetts Cultural Council is providing nonprofits with management toolsto track funding, operations and programmatic data in visual reports to increase their management capacity and identify strategies to build on strengths and shore-up weaknesses. Individual artists are also receiving support from initiatives such asArtistLink,a public/private partnership aimed at creating a stable environment for Massachusetts’ artists by improving access to affordable housing and work spaces, health care, financial support an business planning and through theBRA’s Artist Space Initiative, the city of Boston has alone has added almost 300 new units of designated artist housing since 2001.

Collaboration among Massachusetts’ nonprofit cultural organizations is increasing following rapid growth in the size of the sector—which augmented the diversity of available opportunities for arts participation—at a time of increasingly limited resources.  ProArts, consortium of six of Boston’s performance and visual arts colleges, has been collaborating to develop greater interconnectivity. The Roxbury Cultural Network serves numerous cultural nonprofits and provides joint marketing initiatives, brochure and website design, information and staff sharing to provide capabilities beyond what individual organizations can achieve. And Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD) is collaborating with the Hyde Square Dance Project.

The arts are being used as a tool for creating neighborhood social capital and stimulating social change. Boston’s young people, with support from the City of Boston, Boston Public Schools and numerous community organizations, have increased the number of neighborhood and city-wide events addressing social issues such as youth violence, including Beats for Peace and the Mayor Menino’s Hip Hop Roundtable hosted theHip Hop Peace Summit held at The Strand Theater in 2009.Boston’s neighborhoods are often critical for providing early and continuing access to arts. Newer and long-standing organizations include such organizations as Boston City Singers, Zumix, Cooperative Artists Institute, the Boston Children’s Chorus, Roxbury’s Color of Film Collaborative and Mission Hill Artists Collective continue to bring arts access to all, connect individuals in neighborhoods and build a sense of community though creative arts and performance.

There is increasing concern that the trend toward measuring the impact of arts and culture comes at the expense of creativity and “art for art’s sake.”  The push to measure the economic impact of the Creative Sector has been successful in highlighting the significance of these industries to the regional economy and boosting resources relevant businesses, workers and nonprofits. However, many artists have voiced a concern that the move to measure and standardize arts education, creative thinking and “return-on-investment” philanthropy may be removing the intangible benefits of a vibrant imagination and cultural life.

There is concern that the cultural sector is facing a “brain drain,” as a “cost-prohibitive” for young people facing mounting debt and a high regional cost of living.  Despite increasing support for individual artists through the work of Artist Link, and in available artists work/live spaces developed by the City of Boston (see Indicator 2.7.2), Boston remains one of the nation’s most expensive cities in which to live and work. Many leaders of Boston’s cultural community have expressed concern that the cost of living along with the rising cost of a college degree and mounting student debt will push young people who would like a career in the arts towards more lucrative choices. Alongside concerns over the future pf the creative workforce is a growing concern that the trend towards consolidation and mergers will dissolve smaller non-profit arts organizations that disproportionately engage neighborhood children and adults, build social capital and provide an introduction to the arts, hands-on experience and a foothold for “on the job training.”