Linking art and commerce in the public realm

Today, John Sisson and I met with three leaders of the Newton Cultural Alliance–Adrienne Hartzell, former mayor Tom Concannon, and Representative Kay Khan.  We introduced each other to our respective organizations, and found a lot of common interests but little redundancy.

The Newton Cultural Alliance is “dedicated to improving the quality of life in Newton through programming and collaborative work promoting arts and culture in Newton.”

Their approach is to

1. build awareness through signage, their website and cultural calendar,
2. stimulate economic activity through cultural tourism and partnerships between Newton’s arts/culture and business communities, and
3. develop a plan for a shared cultural facility for offices, classrooms, and spaces for rehearsal and performance.

NCA and Newton Villages both aim to improve the quality of life in Newton.  One specifies means–NCA working through arts and culture–while the other specifies location–NV focusing on public spaces in village centers.  The possibility of collaboration seems clear, at least in the abstract:  We should be working together to link arts and culture to the key agents in sustaining pleasant village centers–our village merchants.

We collectively identified a number of possibilities for working together, and will seek to develop the most promising ideas in the coming months.