For 9 months, I was fortunate enough to collaborate with working artists, leaders in our creative economy, nonprofit partners, and City officials to examine the barriers to artists living and working in Cambridge. Several long-standing issues, including of lack of space, affordability, equity and inclusivity, and bureaucracy that’s hard to navigate, have caused great losses to our historically vibrant arts community.
Displacement and the high cost of both living and practicing art in Cambridge is an ongoing crisis that demands immediate action. Unlike other task forces, which followed a model of meeting for a period of time and producing a report with recommendations to be acted upon at a later date, the Arts Task Force acted as a live advisory body, producing real-time recommendations – also found in this report – that I brought forward at Council meetings over the duration of the Task Force.
“The Task Force wants this report to serve as the document that holds us all accountable for making substantive change for artists in Cambridge.”
-Report conclusion
The report also includes long-term recommendations to improve the quality of life for artists here in Cambridge. As of Fall 2019 when the Council is back in session, I am excited to begin bringing these recommendations to the full Council, and working with our City staff to implement them as soon as possible.
You can read the full report with all of our recommendations below: