SUMMARY
Boston’s cultural vibrancy has intensified in recent years in response to greater diversity, the opening of new or expanded cultural institutions, increasing opportunities for children and families to engage in arts activities, and a thriving creative economy--from architecture to tourism. However, high housing costs have long plagued the ability of artists to live and work in Boston and in the recession, the recent upward trend in the number of arts organizations coupled with declines in state revenue, declines in foundation funding and declines in economic activity generally are challenging the sector’s fiscal health and may presage a wave of consolidation.
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WHAT IS THE CULTURAL LIFE & THE ARTS SECTOR?
Boston’s arts and cultural sector consists of formal arts institutions and organizations such as the
Museum of Fine Arts
,
Institute of Contemporary Art
and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, dance and theater companies such as the Huntington Theater, nonprofit theaters and performance spaces, a lively literary community, large and small music organizations, public art, heritage sites and tours, film festivals and sponsored “art in the park” performances,.. It also includes highly regarded schools of art such as the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, the Museum School and the Berklee School of Music, community arts and performance centers such as the
Strand Theater
, in-school arts education and neighborhood-based out-of-school programs such as DotArt and Zumix. The region’s multitude of ethnic groceries and restaurants, multicultural celebrations and spectacles express the region’s growing racial and ethnic diversity, enlivening daily life and expanding the range of cultural offerings from Taiko drumming and Cambodian puppetry to African and Latin dancing. More than 16,000 artists live in Greater Boston--some in specially designated developments--and, with design professionals such as architects and graphic designers, are transforming Boston’s cultural landscape while helping to make Boston a destination for artists, students, creative-class workers, conventioneers and tourists. And Massachusetts taxpayers benefit substantially from the tax revenues generated by Boston’s creative economy.
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The for-profit enterprizes, nonprofit organizations and individual artists who comprise the Creative Economy, continue to make Boston and Massachusetts a culturally vibrant region
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The Massachusetts Creative Industries Council is the first-in-the-nation government office aimed at growing and sustaining the reagion's creative enterprises and artists
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Boston's nonprofit cultural organizations are competing for shrinking financial resources
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