Last week, artists of all disciplines (visual arts, literary, performing, crafts, new media, etc.) gathered in the Great Hall of the Massachusetts State House for the 9th Annual Artists Under the Dome Event. Held on Nov. 4, it is the only one of its kind in the country. The 2015 event was brought to you by The Massachusetts State Treasury, the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development, the Massachusetts Artists Leaders Coalition, the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the State House’s Cultural Caucus. Special thanks to Future Boston Alliance!
The annual group photo went off without a hitch, thanks to the State House’s fine photographer.
Thank you to everyone who attended, planned, promoted, and/or volunteered at the 9th Annual Artists Under the Dome Event on Nov. 4. It was a great day that celebrated and highlighted the important place of all artists within the halls of state government and throughout our Commonwealth.
There was great press coverage of the event by Andrea Shea of WBUR:
https://artery.wbur.org/2015/11/04/artists-under-the-dome-massachusetts
Massachusetts Cultural Council’s (MCC) Executive Director Anita Walker and MALC Co-founder Kathleen Bitetti welcomed the audience of artists, elected officials, and political staffers. They highlighted the work of the MCC, MALC, and all those dedicated to giving artists a voice within government. Of note was Anita Walker’s highlighting the work of Mark Davy and FutureCity, which places artists at the beginning process of creative placemaking and planning (http://futurecity.co.uk/) Kathleen Bitetti urged those attending to ask their elected officials to join the State House Cultural Caucus which is Co-chaired by Senator Wolf and Representative Pignatelli.
L to R: Rep. Atkins, Rep. Fox, Sen. Donoghue, Anita Walker (MCC) & Sen. Lesser. Images: Derek Lumpkins
Many elected officials attended the event. Those participating in the morning speaking program clearly voiced their support for the artists community and the creative sector.
The order of the elected officials who spoke:
State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg
Chairman Senator Eric P. Lesser – Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts & Cultural Development (Co-host for this section of the event)
Chairwoman Representative Cory Atkins – House Chair of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts & Cultural Development (Co-host for this section of the event)
Chairwoman Senator Eileen Donoghue – Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies and former Senate Chair the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts & Cultural Development Committee
Representative Smitty Pignatelli – House Co-Chair of the Cultural Caucus and House Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts & Cultural Development Committee
Representative Sarah Peake – Division Chair and former House Chair the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts & Cultural Development Committee
Representative Chris Walsh – Vice House Chair Joint Committee on Public Service & former member of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts & Cultural Development
Representative Gloria Fox – Vice House Chair Joint Committee on Elder Affairs
Many other elected officials were spotted in the crowd: Senator Michael Rodrigues, Representative John Scibak, Representative Christine Barber, Representative Keiko Orrall to mention a few. Also spotted was Senator Chang-Diaz’s Legislative Aide Anthony Thomas – a poet and spoken word artist.
From 11:00 – 12:00 am – Artists visited their Senator’s and Representative’s Offices
The noon Brown Bag Lunch was a Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Commonwealth’s Artists Fellowship Program (a key program of the Massachusetts Cultural Council). A wonderful video was shown to highlight the fellowship program:
The lunch was followed by a panel discussion on issues facing artists of all disciplines and the creative sector. The discussion was moderated by Kathleen Bitetti and Malia Lazu (Co-Founder & Executive Director of Future Boston Alliance). It featured the following staffers from the Baker Administration’s Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development:
Helena Fruscio (Deputy Assistant Secretary of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technology, and Director of the Creative Economy)
Lisa Strout (Director of the Massachusetts Film Office)
Richard P. Dalton (Regional Director Greater Boston, Massachusetts Office of Business Development)
L to R: Kathleen Bitetti of MALC, Lisa Strout (Director of the Massachusetts Film Office, Malia Lazu Co-founder and Executive Director of The Future Boston Alliance, Richard P. Dalton (Regional Director Greater Boston, Massachusetts Office of Business Development) and Helena Fruscio (Deputy Assistant Secretary of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Technology, and Director of the Creative Economy). Image: Amit Dixit (Dir., South Asian Arts Council)
Image: Amit Dixit, South Asian Arts Council
As always, the annual event featured baked goods. There was banana bread, courtesy of Kathleen Bitetti. The coffee and chocolate chip cookies were courtesy of MALC Steering Committee Member Tony Toledo. Amy Canavan of the Treasurer’s office supplied other chocolate baked goods. The 40th Anniversary cake for the celebration of the Artists Fellowship program, courtesy of the MCC, was from Mike’s Pastry in Boston’s North End.
Special thanks to the following: The State Treasurer and her team, especially Jacquetta Van Zandt; Representative Cory Atkins and her staff – especially Joanne Muti; Senator Lessor and his staff; MALC Steering Committee members who came and helped out (in alphabetical order): Craig Bailey, Elisa Birdseye, Kathleen Bitetti, Bob Couture, Amit Dixit, Norah Dooley, Jude Griffin, Pat Hollenbeck, Derek Lumpkins, Tony Toledo, John Weeks and honorary MALC Steering Committee Member Paula Bitetti; The Massachusetts Cultural Council: Anita Wallker, Greg Liakos, Kelly Bennett, Dan Blask and Ann Pertruccelli; The Executive Office of Housing & Economic Development and their team members who were on the afternoon panel: Helena Fruscio, Lisa Strout, and Richard Dalton; and finally a huge thank you to Erin Anderson & Malia Lazu of Future Boston Alliance.
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