MASSCreative, a New Group, Celebrates Launch in Somerville

Here's an announcement that got a little buried due to Hurricane Sandy. On Oct. 30, a group of arts and culture leaders from Somerville and Cambridge got together at Somerville's Artisan's Asylum to help launch a new group called MASSCreative.

Here's the announcement from the group:

More than 80 arts and cultural leaders from across Cambridge and Somerville gathered at the Artisan’s Asylum in Somerville to help launch MASSCreative, a new organization that will work to bring more resources to the Massachusetts creative community and strengthen arts education for all students.

Founded by leaders of the creative community, MASSCreative’s mission is to provide a powerful voice on the local, regional and state level for creative organizations, artists, and the public to advocate for the resources and attention necessary to build vibrant, connected, and creative communities.

“Working artists, major creative institutions, local community arts and cultural programs, and the general public, now have a statewide voice that will advocate for policies and programs to bring creativity to our neighborhoods in Cambridge and Somerville and across the state,” said Matt Wilson, MASSCreative’s Executive Director.  “We are set up and ready to educate, advocate, and organize.”

MASSCreative meeting in Somerville was its seventh stop on its kickoff tour of the Commonwealth.  At the Artisan’s Asylum, MASSCreative introduced its Platform and Agenda for 2012- 2013 to a crowd of Somerville and Cambridge leaders and supporters of the creative community. Already a handful of candidates for state representative and state senator have endorsed the platform.

“The creative community in Cambridge and Somerville has a huge impact on the cities’ economies and brings a dynamic, vibrant energy to our communities,” said Gregory Jenkins, Executive Director of the Somerville Arts Council. “Yet in a time of diminishing public resources, we need a group like MASSCreative to highlight that impact, provide a unified voice for the community and advocate effectively for our needs. MASSCreative is set up to play those roles here in Somerville, Cambridge, and across the Commonwealth.”

This event is co-hosted by the following local organizations:  Mudflat Studio, Somerville Historic Preservation Commission, HONK! Festival of Activist Street Bands, Somerville Arts Council, Somerville Museum, Historic Somerville, Passim, Central Square Theater, Musica Sacra, and the Cambridge Arts Council.

Wilson, the organization’s first Executive Director has led nonprofit organizations and advocacy campaigns in several capacities. He held positions as executive director of Toxics Action Center, national field director for MoveOn.org, and campaign director for Health Care for All Massachusetts. He has served on the Finance Committee in his hometown of Reading, and as campaign manager for Bob Massie in his run for US Senate last year.

A list of MASSCreative’s Board of Directors and a current schedule of regional meetings can be found on their website at www.mass-creative.org.