TAKE ACTION: CREATIVE SPACE AND PLACE ACT HEARING ON OCTOBER 21ST
Art making at the 2025 Creative Sector Summit. Photography by Steph Craig Studios.
On Tuesday, October 21st, the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development is holding a hybrid hearing at 1 PM in hearing room B-2. The Committee is receiving testimony on the Creative Space Act and PLACE Act during this hearing.
The deadline to register to testify at the State House or virtually by Teams is Monday, October 20th at 1 PM. Register to testify:
ADA accommodations are available by request. The deadline to submit a request for ADA accommodations is Thursday, October 16th at 1 PM. You can send your request for services to Gabrielle.Hanson@masenate.gov. Closed captioning will be enabled for this hearing.
ABOUT THE CREATIVE SPACE ACT
H.3587/S.2334, An Act to grow and maintain space in cities and towns for the creative economy, or the “Creative Space Act,” will establish “creative space” and “presentation space” definitions to protect and develop new creative production and exhibition spaces in Massachusetts. The Creative Space Act also establishes the option for municipalities to create their own Municipal Creative Space Trust Fund to acquire, purchase, maintain, and otherwise hold onto creative maker space assets.
The Creative Space Act is endorsed by 173 artists and 54 cultural organizations across Massachusetts. It was recently endorsed by the Boston Globe’s Editorial Board. Read about their endorsement here:
ABOUT THE PLACE ACT
H.3592/S.2332, An Act establishing a program for local art and community engagement, or the “PLACE Act,” creates a percent-for-public-art program in Massachusetts. If this bill passes, a percentage of public construction costs spent on Commonwealth-owned property would go to a public art fund to create and maintain public art. This bill creates a commission with representation from the creative community to set the criteria for eligible public art projects.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
This hearing is the next step in advancing the the Creative Space and PLACE Acts. We need you to take action for these bills in the following ways:
Testify in person or virtually on October 21st
Submit written testimony to the Committee
Ask your State Representative and State Senator to co-sponsor the Creative Space and PLACE Acts
Make sure that you are endorsing the Creative Space and PLACE Acts
READ MORE:
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We need as many advocates as possible to testify in support of the Creative Space Act and PLACE Act on October 21st. You can testify in person or virtually: both methods of testifying are just as impactful.
The deadline to register to testify at the State House or virtually by Teams is Monday, October 20th at 1 PM. You can register to testify using this link.
ADA accommodations are available by request. The deadline to submit a request for ADA accommodations is Thursday, October 16th at 1 PM. You can send your request for services to Gabrielle.Hanson@masenate.gov. Closed captioning will be enabled for this hearing.
MASSCreative staff recently conducted a training on legislative hearings that includes tips for how to prepare your testimony. You can watch the training here.
We have also created a downloadable guide to help you prepare your verbal testimony. You can access the guide here.
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We strongly encourage all advocates to submit written testimony to the Committee. You should submit testimony whether you are able to testify at the hearing or not.
We created guides and testimony templates to make it easier for you to submit written testimony. The templates are only meant to be templates - be sure to customize your testimony with stories and data of your own.
Creative Space Act Testimony Template
Tip: if you plan to submit testimony on both bills, you can share your support for both in one letter to the Committee. Make sure to state all of the bill numbers you are writing about.
You can submit written testimony to the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development by emailing the Committee’s House Research Director and the Senate Chair’s Staff at JointCommittee.Tourism&CulturalDevelopment@malegislature.gov.
Please use the subject line “Written Testimony – TACD 10/21/25”.
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Building support in the House and Senate is a crucial part of advocacy. We are pleased that the following legislators are already signed on as co-sponsors -
Creative Space Act: Rep. Christopher Markey, Rep. Samantha Montaño, Rep. Tara Hong, Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven, Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, Rep. Amy Mah Sangiolo, Rep. Natalie Blais, Rep. Mark Sylvia, Rep. Sean Reid, Rep. Carmine Gentile, Sen. Bruce Tarr, Sen. Jamie Eldridge, Sen. Brendan Crighton, and Sen. Sal DiDomenico.
PLACE Act:Rep. Natalie Blais, Rep. John Gaskey, Rep. Carmine Gentile, Rep. Jessica Ann Giannino, Rep. Natalie Higgins, Rep. Tara Hong, Rep. Samantha Montaño, Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, Rep. Amy Mah Sangiolo, Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven, Sen. Jamie Eldridge, Sen. Adam Gómez, and Sen. Sal DiDomenico.
If you don’t see your State Representative or State Senator on these lists, we encourage you to call or email them and ask them to co-sponsor H.3587/S.2334 and H.3592/S.2332.
If you DO see them on this list, consider contacting them to let them know you are testifying on these bills and to thank them for their support!
Not sure who your elected officials are? You can look up your State Representative and State Senator here.
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By endorsing the Creative Space and PLACE Acts, you are joining a statewide coalition of arts leaders who are committed to fighting for creative maker spaces and placekeeping in Massachusetts. Your endorsement helps us build a case with legislators that there is broad support for these proposals.
RESOURCE HUB: PREPARING FOR THE HEARING
We encourage you to use our series of hearing and advocacy resources to feel more confident about advocating for Creative Sector Agenda priorities.
RESOURCES FOR NONPROFITS
