What do we need from the city of Boston’s next chief of arts and culture? The Boston Globe published my thoughts:
One measure of a healthy city is the art that comes out of it. Boston is an amazing place to consume the arts — with the Museum of Fine Arts, the Institute of Contemporary Art, ArtsEmerson, the Symphony, the Ballet, the universities. But for artists, Boston can be a discouraging place to work.
The city’s chief of arts and culture, Julie Burros, arrived from Chicago with great fanfare in December 2014, but she’s now leaving. Mayor Marty Walsh shouldn’t just put someone new in the job; he needs to continue to reckon with the underlying dynamics that make Boston so difficult for artists.
Many people don’t realize how much talent is here. It’s not just Boston Symphony Orchestra musicians. Two years ago, Roxbury artist Ekua Holmes won the Caldecott Honor, one of the top prizes in children’s picture books. The House Slam poets have been bringing home national championships. The city’s hip-hop scene is ascendant with STL GLD, Dutch ReBelle, Oompa, Cliff Notez. And check out our street artists: Victor “Marka27” Quiñonez, Cedric Douglas (pictured at top), Imagine (Sneha Shrestha).
Read the rest in The Boston Globe.
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