ArtsBoston creates powerful relationships between arts organizations, the public, and every sector of civic life to build an arts sector that represents the true character and diversity of our city. With our partners, we are expanding audiences, strengthening community, and advocating for the immense value that the arts, culture, and creativity bring to our sector. Our vision is a Greater Boston that thrives on arts and culture. A vibrant city that embraces arts and culture as an invaluable asset that powers ideas and creativity, fosters innovation and celebrates diversity.

Our vision is a Greater Boston that thrives on arts and culture. A vibrant city that embraces arts a

Source: Nonprofit submitted responses

Goal One: Lead dialogues and action to create a more inclusive, equitable, and diverse arts sector

Goal Type: This goal reflects our commitment to further our advocacy work for our organization and or cause area.

Goal Two: Develop new audiences and increase equity in arts participation

Goal Type: New program(s) based on observed changes in needs among our constituencies/communities served.

Goal Three: Use the power of arts and culture to help make Greater Boston a vibrant and welcoming place to live, work, and visit

Goal Type: Grow, expand, scale or increase access to the existing programs and services.

Describe an investment in leadership

From December, 2021 through May, 2022, ArtsBoston anchored the second cycle of the Mentorship & Sponsorship Program of the Network for Arts Administrators of Color, Boston (NAACBoston). Created as an initiative of ArtsBoston in 2016 to address the lack of representation of people of color in decision-making roles and dispel false narratives regarding the absence of qualified candidates, NAACBoston provides platforms for connection and learning, fosters professional growth, and widens the leadership pipeline. The Mentorship & Sponsorship Program pairs early-career professionals with Mentors for individual support, guidance, and role modeling, and mid-career professionals with Sponsors who can tap into resources of power and open doors. Each pair met at least twice a month, while the full cohort convened virtually on a monthly basis. Professional development sessions for the cohort were also offered to NAACBoston’s full membership. A third cycle is planned for 2022-23.

This organization mobilizes for mission in the following ways:

• Strategic Partnerships

• Networks of Collective Impact Efforts

• Thought Leadership

• Raising Awareness

• Community Building

• Policy Advocacy

What are this organization’s external mobilizaton efforts?

ArtsBoston’s role as a nexus of marketing, research, convening, and advocacy has been of particular importance during the COVID-19 crisis and the concurrent national reckoning with racial injustice. This has included investing in public relations to amplify learnings and outcomes for programs such as the Audience Outlook Monitor, a longitudinal study that assessed audience attitudes and informed organizations’ reopening strategies and the Mentorship & Sponsorship program of the Network for Arts Administrators of Color, Boston (which pairs emerging, mid-career, and established BIPOC arts leaders for shared learning and network building). ArtsBoston also collaborates with national arts service organization colleagues, the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture of the City of Boston, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and other funders and cultural advocates to raise up the societal, economic, and individual value of the arts.

From 2020-2022, Audience Outlook Monitor cohort calls and ArtsBoston’s larger webinars on reopening became important ways for us to listen and gather information on the sector’s needs. At a time when all were navigating greater uncertainty than many had faced in their careers, the collegiality these calls provided was important. In a similar way, the NAACBoston listserv, virtual member conversations, and in-person gatherings helped keep ArtsBoston apprised of BIPOC arts workers’ needs. All of this information gathering shaped our advocacy and collaboration with local, regional, and national partners whose pandemic research, relief programming, and strategic work with regard to equity in the cultural sector have complemented our own. We also shared our learnings in the press, including such Boston Globe articles as “At ArtsBoston, a pandemic pivot” (November 11, 2021), “Mask mandate may be lifted, but arts venues will keep up safety protocols” (March 7, 2022), and “After two years of upheaval, the arts need audiences to get into the act” (March 10, 2022). In the summer of 2022, ArtsBoston launched a new round of qualitative research. Leveraging pro bono evaluation expertise from our board chair Sarah Lee, we designed a survey with open-ended questions that we posed to 22 leaders from a cross-section of current, lapsed, and prospective ArtsBoston member organizations, who collectively represent diversity of genre, race, gender, ability, and organizational budget size. This research identified key themes and areas of need in attracting and retaining audiences, funding, staffing, research, and racial justice, with a core overarching through line of people’s need to connect and reconnect with each other. "ArtsBoston is essential to us as we move forward to a different way of engaging with audiences, working together to solve common challenges, and building community in our sector." - Catherine Carr Kelly, Central Square Theater