Donating grants to artist

CC:

Maryellen Carvello, Executive Office Manager Date: 1/26/2017 Re:

City Council Awaiting Report #16-68 Following-up on City Council Awaiting Report #16-68, I want to confirm that the Arts Council is well underway in implementing a funded program that directly address Councillor Mazen’s Order to recognize, fund and support individual artists in the City and to do so in a streamlined and efficient manner.

With funding from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and ongoing support from local business and property developers, the Arts Council developed an innovative program called Cambridge Arts: Creative Marketplace. The core values of the program include: celebrating local artists and introducing their work to broader audiences, providing artists with key learning and educational opportunities and fostering a more durable and accessible marketplace where residents, artists, employees and local businesses in Cambridge regularly connect and support one another’s presence and work.

Creative Marketplace consists of three programs designed to boost visibility of artists, arts organizations and drive local economic activity. Community Supported Art, modeled on the community supported agriculture delivery system, provides professional development, direct economic support and access to new audiences for local artists. A corporate Exhibitions Program builds partnerships and provides high-profile exhibition opportunities for artists in the City’s corporate and business environments. The Cambridge Arts Challenge encourages a greater awareness of the vibrant arts sector in the City and challenges employees in the for-profit sector to recognize and actively support and patronize local arts organizations.

To demonstrate the success and reach of the program to date, I am attaching further details related to participation artist funding outcomes.

January 26, 2017 2 Building success of Creative Marketplace and the direct funding, partnership, education and exposure it affords to Cambridge-based artists, I will apply for a second 2-year grant from the state arts agency to support continued identification and cultivation of partnerships that support the Exhibitions and Challenge components of the program. Importantly, Creative Marketplace takes nothing away from the existing Cambridge Artist Grant Program and Cambridge Arts Open Studios programs. Instead, it serves to augment that support while providing efficiencies that streamline artist selection and funding and attach program outcomes to broader and sustained support for local artists in the City.

Based on direct feedback from artists, business owners and the general public, there is a high level of appreciation and support for this work. Participating artists have built stronger local networks, experience direct partnership with arts and for-profit organizations to support their work and describe a sense of feeling well-supported and valued by the city. Businesses indicate a strong belief that their participation in Creative Marketplace is a “win-win” for the organization offering their employees opportunities for positive local engagement and deepening their presence and connection to Cambridge.

Artists have come to understand themselves as small business entrepreneurs, exhibited and sold new and existing work, and fine-tuned their studio practice.

I believe that the Cambridge Arts: Creative Marketplace program is informed by the successes of neighboring and national artist support programs and should be considered a signature Cambridge program that aligns with the creativity and innovation that are authentic to the City’s vibrant history, ethos and local economy. Along with this memo, I have included marketing materials and program-related details for your review. Additional information for Community Supported Art can be found at: http://csartcambridge.com/