After months of searching, Boston found its chief of arts and culture—the first such cabinet-level role in 20 years. Julie Burros, previously the director of cultural planning in Chicago, will have her first day as the city’s “arts czar” on Dec. 15. Ahead of her arrival, we tapped local arts pros for questions to pose to Burros.

(From Summer Williams, co-founder of Company One) Julie Burros: “I’m really excited about the opportunity to innovate how the municipal government supports the arts. That’s exciting to me. I’m not filling anybody else’s shoes, so I get to rethink and reinvent a little bit what the role of government is in supporting the arts. I’m also very excited about the vitality of the city. Boston is bursting with energy and growth.”

(From Roger H. Brown, president of Berklee College of Music) “I do want to caveat that just because something worked in Chicago or another city doesn’t mean it’s the right solution for Boston. But there are some really cool programs I’ve seen be impactful. One is called Arts in Sacred Places. It’s a program from a group called Partners for Sacred Places, where they actually do training, capacity building and matchmaking between arts organizations and congregations. It really focuses on space utilization…. I know space is a big issue in Boston, so that’s a really cool thing I’d like to take a look at and see if it’s a fit for Boston. There’s also something called the Chicago Artists Resource website, and it’s very impactful for creative people of all sorts in helping them find resources and connecting. It was started by an agency I worked at and then spun off to a nonprofit.”

(From Christie Gibson, director of OperaHub) “I love, love, love going to see culture and theater and music. I’m squeezing in some last little trips to some of my favorites in Chicago. I would say I average about two to four a week—so a lot. I’m hoping my schedule will permit it. And I really have to see the product and experience it firsthand in Boston, so people are going to see my smiling face in a lot of Boston venues.”

(From Nicole Dessingue and Amyko Ishizaki, co-directors of ARCH Gallery) “There’s a lot of people for whom I think the collecting process needs to be demystified. Galleries can do a lot to be welcoming of people who are not already in the mix, or might not ordinarily go to art galleries. I think people are a bit unsure and wonder, ‘Can I go? What’s going on?’ The art community—already you’ve got them. But what about other people? It’s a complicated issue.”

(From Mikko Nissinen, artistic director of Boston Ballet) “The first thing we’re going to do is a cultural plan. There’s lots of evidence that shows the funding for arts and culture does increase after you do a cultural plan. We really need to do the groundwork. What’s the strategy? What are our goals? How well do we work together? Then we can start to really understand what the funding is that we need to move the needle and get what we want. So, big picture I’m very much looking to grow the resources dedicated to arts and culture.”

(From Summer Williams, co-founder of Company One) I really see a partnership with other city departments and public agencies as a way that I can immediately have an impact on programs. Funding and leveraging assets within other public agencies is a way to start immediately without having to have some big new budget. That’s something I’m really eager to get going on. There’s been a lot of interest from other city department heads that I’ve met with already. I’m really looking for that to have some immediate impact.

(From Susan Rodgerson, co-founder of Artists for Humanity) I’ve been lucky enough to see many works by the Albany Park Theater Project and Louder than A Bomb. Their work is incredibly powerful and inspiring and moving. I’m sure there are lots of young people in Boston who are doing equally powerful work, and I’m excited to see what they have going.

(From Roger H. Brown, president of Berklee College of Music) I don’t know the art scene that well; I’ll be honest with you. I think Boston in general has an incredible youthful population; a wonderful ethnic diversity and the neighborhoods are so strong and so engaged. These are some of the things I’m seeing. I haven’t yet gotten to see the arts community. I know they’re super eager to work with me, and I’m excited about the receptivity and the welcome I’m getting, even though I don’t live there yet. That’s been wonderful—all that positive energy.

(From Christie Gibson, director at OperaHub) I very much would like to look at how we can leverage spaces indoor and outdoor, for arts and culture activation, artists in residence, residencies of all sorts. That’s a very exciting prospect. How we do it, the nitty-gritty and the permit process, it’s too soon to say what that would look like.

(From Susan Rodgerson, co-founder of Artists for Humanity) There’s no easy answer. It’s something we’re going to have to work on together. I don’t know what the obstacles to getting that national attention are. Is it media coverage? Is it marketing? I don’t know what is standing in the way. I’d have to learn what’s going on to find out why Boston is not getting the attention it deserves. So, I’d have to say, “Let’s stick a pin in it.”


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