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MAPC >> Our Work >> Expertise >> Arts & Culture

MAPC

Smart Growth & Regional Collaboration

MAPC's Arts and Culture Department delivers technical assistance in emerging practice areas including cultural planning, creative placemaking, creative community development, arts and cultural data collection and analysis, and cultural policy.

We help cities and towns with policies, programs, and staffing that help arts and cultural assets grow and thrive by providing technical assistance with the full range of arts and culture planning issues – community development, economic development, public health, and the built and natural environment. The department's services include municipal and regional planning work, research projects, and the delivery of trainings that build planner expertise in arts, culture, and creativity.

Sign up for MAPC's Arts & Culture mailing list to receive updates on resources and events pertaining to arts, culture, and planning.

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Arts and Culture Services

Projects

Arts and Culture Fellowships

Historic Appeals

History and Heritage

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Cultural Planning

Cultural planning strengthens, leverages, and integrates artistic and cultural resources across all facets of local government. Done well, it can expand, enhance, and improve artistic and cultural opportunities for creative expression in the community. There are many types of cultural plans, including neighborhood or district-focused, historic and cultural resource elements of larger plans, creative economy studies, public art plans, and more.

CULTURAL ASSET MAPPING

Cultural asset mapping identifies a community’s strengths and resources through the process of auditing tangible and intangible cultural assets, e.g., temporary or permanent public art, cultural facilities, arts and cultural businesses, cultural festivals and events, and cultural organizations, including stories and traditions that contribute to defining a community’s unique identity and sense of place.

Creative Community Development

Creative community development incorporates creative placemaking strategies and social engagement to infuse innovation and creativity into planning initiatives. Our practice focuses on advancing social capital, civic engagement, equity, inclusion, and social justice. Our approach is grounded in socially engaged arts values; where arts, culture, and creativity are tapped as catalysts for social change.

RESEARCH INITIATIVES

MAPC is at the table with local, regional, and state partners in identifying policy strategies that can help arts and culture thrive. A data center with expertise in data analysis and mapping, we help cities and towns collect, analyze, and share data about their arts and cultural assets for local and regional benefits. Contact us to access our research-driven arts data and arts policy expertise.

Questions?

To learn more about MAPC’s arts and culture services, please contact
Annis Sengupta, Director of the Arts & Culture Department
[email protected].

Current Projects:

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Rooted in Nature: Indigenous Knowledge and Climate Resiliency

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Regional Trails Creative Placemaking Project

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Eastern Massachusetts Historical Commission Coalition

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Regional Cultural Tourism Project

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Making Space for Art: Securing Cultural Infrastructure in Boston, Cambridge & Somerville

Making it Public: Training for Municipalities

Salem Charlotte Forten Memorial

Revere Beachmont Fire Station Concept Plan

Malden Center for Arts & Culture

Watertown Public Art Master Plan

Boston Chinatown Cultural Plan

Needham Arts & Culture Action Plan

Selected Past Projects:

Creative Placemaking

Natick Center Creative Placemaking Strategy

Cultural Planning

Boston Latin Quarter Cultural District Plan

Public Art

Lynnstallation

Tools and Resources

Cool it with Art

Research Initiatives

REVIVE: Local Arts Indicators

Discussion Series

Public Art, Public Memory

Arts and Culture Project Archive - coming soon!

Artist-in-Residence Program

From 2017 to 2020, the MAPC Artist-in-Residence program has brought artists into MAPC to infuse arts, culture, and creativity into the agency’s multidisciplinary planning work with cities, towns, and other organizations.

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Arts & Culture Fellow Program

The MAPC Arts & Culture Fellow program supports the department’s efforts to help cities, towns, and neighborhoods to become more culturally vibrant, open to artistic expression, and welcoming to people of many backgrounds. From 2019 through 2021, this position was held by Emma Boast.

Technical Assistance Guidelines

View guidelines for MAPC's Technical Assistance Program (TAP), which invites applicants to submit project concepts on a rolling basis. Contact us to learn more about how we can help!

MGL Chapter 30B Sections 1 (b)(3) and (b)(9) exempt municipalities from having to issue a Request for Proposals or an Invitation for Bids, or from engaging in any other procedures required by procurement law, when working directly with MAPC.

Supporters

MAPC's arts & culture work is supported through several sources, including fee-for-service contributions from cities and towns and community development organizations, MAPC technical assistance resources, and grant funding from the Barr Foundation and the Kresge Foundation.

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Resources

MAPC Arts and Planning Toolkit

The Toolkit presents planners with a comprehensive framework for identifying opportunities to engage arts, culture, and the creative community in ways that advance smart growth and livability goals.

The Toolkit provides:

  • A summary of arts & culture planning strategies by topic area
  • Case study materials and links
  • Additional resources by topic (including more toolkits)
  • Glossary of terms

MAPC | Arts & Culture Team