ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN TO FUND BOSTON’S ARTS

Advocacy: Local
Written By Kelsey Rode

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In early April, Mayor Wu submitted her FY27 budget to Boston City Council with more than $50M in cuts due to the high costs of snow removal this year, higher costs of employee health insurance, and overall inflation.

The Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture (MOAC)’s budget is slated to have $1M cut from their department in FY27, amounting to a 27% cut that will impact various arts programs. 


Each spring, Boston’s Mayor submits a budget for the next fiscal year to Boston City Council for review. Over six weeks, the City Council holds 35 to 40 hearings on different parts of the budget before the City Council sends an amended budget back to the Mayor. A balanced budget must be in place by the end of June, as the new fiscal year begins July 1st. 


Boston’s arts and cultural sector, under the organizing body Arts Activate Boston, is joining together through one movement called Fund Boston’s Arts to advocate for the reinstatement of Boston’s arts budget for FY27.

The first and most important action is for members of Boston’s arts and cultural sector to attend the City Council budget hearing on Arts and Culture on Thursday, April 30th at 2 PM at Boston City Hall. 

Let Arts Activate Boston know you plan to attend the City Council hearing by registering below:

 
ATTEND THE COUNCIL HEARING
ATTEND THE COUNCIL HEARING
 

Stay up to date on this campaign by subscribing for email updates here. For questions, please contact ArtsActivateBoston@gmail.com.

 

Additional Reading:

  • Learn more about Boston’s FY27 budget cuts (LINK)

  • Learn more about Boston’s budget process (LINK)

 
 
 
Resources
A Guide To Hearing And Giving Testimony

An important part of the governing process is public hearings. These occur on all levels of government (Federal, State, and Local). Understanding the hearing process and how you can participate will make you a more effective advocate for a more equitable and inclusive creative sector.

INSIDE THE STATE BUDGETING PROCESS

Maintaining and increasing public investment in the creative community requires constant and broad grassroots activism throughout the annual budget process.

NonProfit Organizations & Advocacy

There is a lot of misinformation on what a nonprofit can and cannot do when it comes to advocating for its interests and the needs of the communities they serve. Check out our Nonprofits and Advocacy Resource on how your organization effectively and confidently advocate for a more equitable and inclusive creative sector of all residents in the Commonwealth.

6/19/20 - POLICY & ACTION UPDATE WEBINAR

In this webinar, we took time to honor Juneteenth and Pride Month, and talked about the status of arts education funding and voting protections.

6/12/20 - POLICY & ACTION UPDATE WEBINAR

In this webinar, we discussed mapping our roles in a social change ecosystem, talked about proposed legislation to address COVID-19 voting options, the 2020 Census, and reviewed federal and state supports for the creative sector.

6/5/20 - policy & action update webinars

In this webinar, we had a community conversation about mapping our social change roles during times of crisis.

Kelsey Rode
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TAKE ACTION ON THE FY27 MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE BUDGET