The Mayor’s Arts Task Force was a special advisory committee comprised of city staff, local community leaders, and members of the artist community, and chaired by Councillor Alanna Mallon. Members provided guidance on:
- Policies the City can pursue that will continue to foster and promote arts that are reflective of the diverse communities that live in Cambridge
- Ensuring a robust funding source for our arts community using both city resources, and the resources of local companies
- Collaboration between the City, the Central Square Business Association, and local artists to strengthen Central Square as an Arts and Cultural District
Check out a video on the Mayor's Arts Task Force here: https://vimeo.com/313686238
NEW VIDEO: Special thanks to our partners at Loop Lab for pulling together this latest video on the work of the Mayor's Arts Task Force. Check it out here: https://vimeo.com/332090663
List of Members/Member Affiliations
- Councillor Alanna Mallon, Chair
- Mayor Marc C. McGovern
- Jason Weeks, Executive Director of the Arts Council.
- Representative from the City Manager’s Office
- Representative from the Community Development Department
- Representative from the Office of Budget and Finance
- Afiyah Harrigan, Mayor’s Office
- Olufolakemi Alalade, working visual artist as a member of MatriArts, a museum shop curated to promote African women’s arts and materials
- Olivia D’Ambrosio, Director of the Bridge Repertory Theater
- David DeCelis, architect and Public Arts Commission
- Peter DiMuro, Executive Director of the Dance Complex
- Sarah Gallop, Government Relations at MIT
- Eryn Johnson, Executive director of the Community Arts Center
- Christopher Hope, Founder of The Loop Lab
- Kristina Latino, CEO of Cornerscape and music festival organizer
- Martha McKenna, Director of the Creative Commons at Lesley University
- Michael Monestime, Executive Director of the Central Square Business Association
- Jero Nesson, Brickbottom Gallery
- James Pierre, muralist and manager of the Community Arts Center’s Public Art Program
- Geeta Pradhan, Cambridge Community Foundation
- Ellen Shakespear, Co-founder of Spaceus, an arts space rehab
- Kelly Sherman, working visual artist and innovation consultant
- Ben Simon, EMF musician
This group includes working artists in the disciplines of dance, music, music production, theater, and visual arts, as well as specialists in developing arts spaces like studios and housing. Members will bring their expertise to help solve some of the most pressing issues facing working artists in Cambridge: lack of affordable creative space, sustainable funding, and strengthening Central Square as an Arts and Cultural District. The group is also representative of the diverse communities we have here in Cambridge.
Meeting Dates
Meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Locations To Be Determined.
Tentative Task Force Meeting Dates are:
- October 11, 2018 @ Workbar, Central Square
- November 8, 2018 @ Spaceus, Harvard Square, 20 Brattle Street
- December 13, 2018 @ MIT Theatre Arts Building, 385 Vassar Street
- January 10, 2019 @ The Community Art Center, 119 Windsor St
- February 7, 2019 @ the Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St
- March 14, 2019 @ Cambridge Community Foundation, 99 Bishop Allen Drive
- April 11, 2019 @ The Dance Complex, 536 Massachusetts Ave
- May 9, 2019 @ Workbar, Central Square
- June 13, 2019 @ La Fabrica, 450 Mass Ave
Meeting Minutes & Documents