Showcasing Local Venues Listening Sessions | | Dr. Annis Sengupta presenting in the Rockwell’s blackbox theater space to local independent venue stakeholders on July 14. | | |
On Monday, July 14, MAPC hosted a conversation with stakeholders representing local independent venues in Metro Boston at The Rockwell. The project team presented findings from June listening sessions with local independent venues, including for-profit and nonprofit venues, and interviews with community leaders. Partners from New England Foundation for the Arts and ArtsBoston shared information on regional resources provided by CreativeGround and the ArtsBoston Calendar.
Findings from the listening session and this session will guide recommendations on improving these existing regional resources to meet the needs of local independent venues and identify areas for future collaboration and coordination within the independent venue ecosystem.
Are you connected to a local independent venue? If so, share your information through this brief survey. The survey includes questions about your role in the local independent venue ecosystem and future ways you want to connect. After participants fill out the survey, they will receive access to each other's contact information.
| | Acton Cultural Arts Strategy Site Visit | | Local artist, Sunanda Sahay, shows her painted artwork bench with MAPC staff, Acton staff and select board members. | | In June, the MAPC team toured Acton’s arts, cultural and historical sites with community stakeholders. Highlights included the YV Art Museum, the Discovery Museum, the Acton Arboretum, the historic Exchange Hall, and surveying existing public artworks. The Arts & Culture Department is working with the Town staff on an inventory of public art and strategy to promote Acton’s arts and culture communities. | | Chinatown Cultural Plan Now Live! | | Mel Taing, Lily Xie, and Heang Rubin’s Humans of Chinatown at SaturPLAY in Mary Soo Hoo Park, presented by A-VOYCE, PC Lee-Daniel Tran. | | |
After a deeply collaborative and creative process with community members, artists, and cultural leaders, the Chinatown Cultural Plan is now live! The plan captures a snapshot of the neighborhood’s current cultural ecosystem and outlines a shared vision, values, and actions to support the people, places, and organizations that shape Chinatown’s creative life.
Explore the plan and learn how to get involved here.
Visit the Artists Website to learn more about the creative process behind the project.
| | Team Field Trip to the ICA Watershed | | MAPC Arts & Culture staff outside the ICA Watershed, freshly arrived by boat and feeling the harbor breeze. | | Earlier this month, the full Arts & Culture team set sail (okay - we hopped on the ICA Water Shuttle) across the harbor to visit the ICA Watershed in East Boston. We explored Home Less Home by Chiharu Shiota, a newly commissioned installation where red and black ropes form the outline of a house - filled with floating documents and everyday objects that speak to the ways we build home through memory, movement, and meaning. The exhibition - part of the Boston Public Art Triennial - is on view through September 1. | | Call for Proposals: Chinatown Cultural Plan Projects | | |
ACDC, CCLT, and Pao Arts Center invite proposals for projects that support one or more Chinatown Cultural Plan priorities.
A total of $85,000 is available to support individuals, families, artists, organizations, faith-based groups, and businesses. Projects must benefit the Boston Chinatown community and be completed by June 30, 2026.
Application Deadline: Thursday, July 31, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Learn more and apply here.
Questions? Email arts@bcnc.net
| | Registration: Preservation in a Changing Climate 2025 | | |
A full-day conference advancing strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate impacts on historic buildings, landscapes, and neighborhoods. Expect case studies, panels, and a keynote from Christina Rae Butler, Provost and Professor at the American College of the Building Arts. Lunch is included, with a closing reception at the National Park Service Armory Visitor Center.
Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Morse Auditorium, Peabody Essex Museum
161 Essex St, Salem, MA
$50 early bird registration (until August 15)
$60 after August 16
$40 students
Registration now open: Register here (first come, first served)
| | Call for Proposals: National Planning Conference 2026 | | |
Detroit, Michigan | April 25–28, 2026
Online | May 27–29, 2026
The American Planning Association invites proposals and reviewer sign-ups for the 2026 National Planning Conference. Sessions should highlight forward-thinking ideas, inclusive practices, and actionable insights for planners across disciplines.
Submissions Portal Opens: Tuesday, July 30, 2025
Submission Deadline: Tuesday, August 20, 2025 at 5:00 PM CT
Learn more and apply here.
| | | | Looking to connect with like-minded practitioners across the country? Contact asengupta@mapc.org for more information. | | |
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.
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