Create The Vote
CONNECTING THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY WITH CANDIDATES RUNNING FOR PUBLIC OFFICE.
Create the Vote campaigns engage voters with candidates who are running for public office to elevate the ways that arts, culture, and creative expression build inclusive, connected, and more equitable communities.
We have proven through past campaigns and efforts that our unified voices work in demonstrating the electoral power of artists, creative workers, cultural nonprofits, and creative small businesses during elections.
Create the Vote has been at the forefront of driving statewide engagement between the creative community and elected officials through municipal and state-level elections. For over a decade, Create the Vote has organized campaigns around local elections such as the Boston mayoral race in 2013, Massachusetts House and Senate races, and statewide races including the Lieutenant Governor’s race in 2022.
Together, we are working with communities to leverage the creative sector as an engine for voter registration, civic education, and electoral turnout.
Images from the Boston Mayoral Forum on Arts & Culture on July 30, 2025, organized by the Create the Vote Coalition. Lauren Miller Photography.
our 2025 campaigns
2025 IS A CRITICAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION YEAR IN MASSACHUSETTS.
Local elections have real and immediate impacts on towns and cities: school committees, zoning boards, city councilors, selectboard members, and mayors make everyday decisions that affect education, permitting, housing, and our creative economy. But turnout for local elections remains low with an average of only 15% - 27% of eligible voters participating in local elections. By skipping out on local elections, we are giving away power that is rightfully ours.
In 2025, Create the Vote is partnering with communities throughout Massachusetts to elevate the contributions of artists, creative workers, cultural nonprofits, and creative small businesses.
We are working with grassroots partners to motivate candidates to develop arts and culture policy agendas. We are using our platforms to educate voters and generate turnout for the preliminary and general elections.
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On July 30, 2025, the Create the Vote Boston Coalition held a Boston Mayoral Forum on Arts & Culture at the Strand Theatre with candidates Michelle Wu, Josh Kraft, and Domingos DaRosa. Jared Bowen, host of GBH’s The Culture Show, moderated the forum.
More than 750 artists and creatives registered for the Boston forum.
The Boston Forum was hosted by organizers from Abilities Dance, AfroDesiaCity Productions LLC, ArtsBoston, #ARTSTAYSHERE Coalition, BAMS Fest Inc, Boston Art Review, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston Children's Museum, Boston Lyric Opera, Castle of our Skins, Charlestown Rehearsal Studios Tenants Association, Company One Theatre, Dorchester Art Project, EdVestors, Embrace Boston, Expressive Art Studios, GBH, GrubStreet, Humphreys Street Studios, MASSCreative, National Center of Afro-American Artists, Photosbymarcia LLC, Roxbury Cultural District, SpeakEasy Stage, Temple Gill, The Annette McCarty Art Studio, The Fenway Alliance, The Network for Arts Administrators of Color (NAACBoston), The Record Co., and Veronica Robles Cultural Center (VROCC).
Read the full recap and watch the forum recording:
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On August 25, 2025, the Create the Vote Somerville Coalition held a Somerville Mayoral Forum on Arts & Culture at Warehouse XI with candidates Katjana Ballantyne, Willie Burnley Jr, and Jake Wilson. Amelia Mason, Senior Arts & Culture Reporter at WBUR, moderated the forum.
130 artists and creatives in Somerville attended the mayoral forum.
The Somerville Mayoral Forum was organized by host committee members from the ARTS#TAYSHERE Coalition, Central Street Studios, CultureHouse, Dara Capley, David Jubinsky, Esh Circus Arts, Joy Street Artist, MASSCreative, Metropolitan Area Planning Council, Milk Row Studios Tenants Association, Mudflat Studio, Restoring the Feeling, The Nave Gallery, Union Square Neighborhood Council, and Vernon Street Studios.
Read the full recap and watch the forum recording:
GET INVOLVED
If you are interested in getting involved with Create the Vote, please email our team here.
LEARN MORE:
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In 2013, MASSCreative developed Create the Vote, an advocacy campaign to elevate arts and culture in the Boston Mayoral Election. Through the support of the Barr Foundation and partnership with Boston arts stakeholders, the Create the Vote campaign successfully brought the needs of the creative sector front and center for candidates and voters. Through Intimate roundtable discussions, questionnaires and a town hall forum, candidates heard directly from the creative community on pressing needs of the sector. During the town hall forum, Mayor Walsh publicly committed to appointing a Chief of Arts and Culture for the City to his Cabinet.
Each year MASSCreative works with partners to elevate the creative sector during election season. In 2021 we worked on the Boston Mayoral election and in 2022 we prioritized the Statewide Gubernatorial election. In 2024, we concentrated on open seats in the State House.
The new Create the Vote coalition campaign program will use a similar campaign activity model as before, but place priority on the development of local coalitions who work together long after the election ends for continued shared advocacy work. In 2025, we’re taking our work to towns and cities in Massachusetts. -
Our democracy depends on free and fair elections, where communities come together to decide who will represent them. Artists, creatives, and cultural organizations are trusted community leaders who have a responsibility to play their part in encouraging voter turnout.
To support voter accessibility, MASSCreative will work with artists, creative workers, and cultural organizations to increase voter registration during this election cycle. Through Let’s Get Registered, MASSCreative will work with partners to run registration drives, get youth civically engaged, provide clarity around voter eligibility and timelines, and support Massachusetts residents with tangible resources to make a voting plan ahead of election day.
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In 2025, cities and towns across Massachusetts will hold municipal elections to decide who will lead and manage our communities.
We are eager to work with passionate advocates to ensure arts, culture and creativity is on the ballot in November.You can learn more about our 2025 campaign goals by watching the Open House we hosted in March.
2025 Create the Vote Coalitions:Join the Boston coalition.
Join the Somerville coalition.
Email createthevote@mass-creative.org if you are interested in starting a campaign in your community.
