What to Know Before Creative Sector Advocacy Week

Pictured above, state leaders, legislators, and supporters gathered for Creative Sector Day in 2024 

April 23, 2025 – The Metropolitan Area Planning Council joins artists, creatives, culture bearers, and advocates from across the Commonwealth for an annual, statewide week of advocacy, action, and celebration of the creative sector. Creative Sector Advocacy Week, organized by MASSCreative, takes place April 28 through May 2 this year with events happening across the state.

MAPC’s Arts & Culture and Government Affairs teams, as well as agency leadership, will head to the State House on Wednesday, April 30 as part of Creative Sector Day to support, celebrate, and advocate for a robust, and well-supported, statewide arts ecosystem.

MASSCreative reports that Massachusetts is the third most arts-vibrant state in the nation — a signal that arts and culture is a critical asset and resource for community building, economic development, and tourism that distinguishes our state from others. However, notable and well documented challenges that are impacting all residents, such as the high cost of housing, are particularly challenging for the arts sector. The redevelopment of studio and industrial space, serving various forms of arts and culture, pushes many artists farther away from population centers, particularly in the Greater Boston region. Cuts in federal funding to local libraries and museums, like the recent termination of a three-year grant to the Massachusetts Museum of African American History, also exponentially increases the need for state support to maintain our diverse cultural vibrancy.

Each year, MAPC supports a number of bills, policy provisions, and budget items that are central to our work as a regional planning agency and the prosperity of our 101 cities and towns; currently, there are several arts and culture-related legislative actions MAPC has prioritized and hopes to spotlight during Creative Sector Advocacy Week.

• An Act to grow and maintain space in cities and towns for the creative economy, sponsored by Rep. Dan Cahill (D-Lynn) and Sen. Liz Miranda (D-Boston), would establish “creative space” and “presentation space” land restrictions to protect and develop new creative production and exhibition spaces in Massachusetts H.3587 / S.2334

• An Act establishing a program for local art and community engagement, sponsored by Rep. Mary Keefe (D-Worcester), Rep. Steve Ultrino (D-Malden), Sen. Robyn Kennedy (D-Worcester), would create a statewide percent for public art program where .05% of the funds up to $300,000 that go to construction or renovation projects of any Commonwealth-owned building or property would go into a fund to create and maintain public art. 3592 / S.2332

• In the FY26 state budget, MAPC has requested an increase to $4 million for District Local Technical Assistance (DLTA) funds. DLTA dollars are distributed to Massachusetts’ 13 regional planning agencies and can be spent on a wide variety of planning and implementation projects, including ones that focus on or overlap with arts and culture.

• Last session, the final Economic Development Bond Bill that passed in November established a new Downtown Vitality Fund, which is seeded with $9.5 million in bond funding, to strengthen cultural identity and prevent cultural displacement. MAPC hopes that the Commonwealth and the Legislature will seed this program in either its capital or operating budget.

Last month, MAPC’s Director of Arts and Culture Annis Sengupta joined MASSCreative and the Mass Cultural Council for a legislative briefing at the State House; Annis has also served on the Mass. Office of Economic Development’s Cultural Economy Advisory Council, co-chaired by Secretary Yvonne Hao and Office of Travel & Tourism Executive Director Kate Fox.

We are elated to be part of the momentum driving local advocacy for arts and culture and hope to see you at the State House on April 30. We’ll be sharing news, photos from past projects, and more all next week – join our A&C newsletter list or follow MAPC on LinkedIn and Instagram!