{"id":386,"date":"2026-06-19T04:34:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T04:34:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=386"},"modified":"2026-06-19T04:34:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T04:34:55","slug":"somerville-arts-scene-gets-vibe-checked-at-community-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=386","title":{"rendered":"Somerville arts scene gets vibe checked at community forum"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

At a community-led \u201cstate of the arts\u201d forum in Union Square Monday, keeping Somerville a creative hub was top of mind.<\/p>\n

Read more Flaherty effort to save ShotSpotter misfires<\/a><\/p>\n

In the wake of this year\u2019s dismissals and restructurings at city hall, the event gathered around 50 people to air their thoughts, concerns and wishes for Somerville\u2019s artistic future. It was produced by the Art Stays Here coalition and attended by members of eight other local organizations.<\/p>\n

Co-organizer Ethan Dussault called it \u201can unusual meeting. We usually convene people to talk about arts space.\u201d He said people had asked for a more open conversation after recent changes at the Somerville Arts Council.<\/p>\n

Affordability and accessibility loomed large in the conversation, and several people mentioned losing workspace or struggling to raise funds to make their buildings accessible. Ellen Waylonis, co-founder of Esh Circus Arts, said affordable indoor rehearsal space has become more important due to the effects of climate change. Though outdoor rehearsals and performances previously made sense in the face of budget constraints, she said, the unpredictable weather over the past five years has been \u201csort of tanking\u201d their ability to do that.<\/p>\n

Some of the discussion was positive. Ami Bennitt, a founder of Art Stays Here, said that after more than a year, the Arts and Business Council of Greater Boston had succeeded in purchasing Central Street Studios to maintain it as permanently affordable art work space. A ribbon-cutting took place on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Ben Baldwin, the executive director of the Somerville Community Land Trust, said his organization has been \u201ctrying to get creative\u201d in acquiring space. \u201cThe most expensive thing that we\u2019re talking about is the land and the buildings,\u201d he said, thanking some \u201cextremely generous\u201d people from the Brickbottom artists building who chose to make their condominiums permanently affordable as part of the trust.<\/p>\n

Read more Events this week in Camberville: Juneteenth celebration, salsa dancing, and annual Cambridge dance party<\/a><\/p>\n

City councillor and candidate for state representative Ben Ewen-Campen spoke about the city\u2019s arts and creative enterprise (ACE) zoning requirements \u2014 which require developers in some areas to designate 5-10% of new square footage to arts uses. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t work that well,\u201d he said. He proposed creating the option for developers of making cash payments more readily available as a community benefit, an idea he said has gotten the conceptual but not legal support it needs. \u201cLet\u2019s make this really happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The night\u2019s forum took place over a year after the Somernova community benefits agreement (CBA) was voted on, a process that required a zoning overlay and many hours of negotiation between developers and the neighborhood. In an interview after the meeting, Dussault cited that agreement as an example of the power of community organizing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though there\u2019s no CBA being negotiated now,\u201d Dussault said, building, maintaining and strengthening partnerships within and outside of the Somerville community \u201cis always a good use of time. Because there will be another development, there will be another hair-on-fire moment, and there\u2019s no reason to just wait for those to be organized, to be in connection, to be in community. Tonight was a shining example of the willingness of the Somerville community to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the event, attendee and a staffer at the event production company EventThem Voravut Ratanakommon affirmed the power of collaborating across city lines. He shared a story about a friend \u00a0who couldn\u2019t afford to live in Medford anymore, so moved out to Easthampton and \u201ccreated a whole art community out there,\u201d he said. \u201cThey created a Porchfest out there, because they took the ideas of here and brought it out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everybody is so concerned about borders,\u201d he said. \u201cWe talk about it a lot, and our city borders and where we\u2019re from. We\u2019re very proud of those things. But we also have to realize we have to collaborate to survive, because the resources that we have access to are dwindling by the minute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more A movie for Juneteenth<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At a community-led \u201cstate of the arts\u201d forum in Union Square Monday, keeping Somerville a creative hub was top of mind. Read more Flaherty effort to save ShotSpotter misfires In the wake of this year\u2019s dismissals and restructurings at city hall, the event gathered around 50 people to air their thoughts, concerns and wishes for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[82,201,202],"class_list":["post-386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","tag-affordable-housing","tag-arts-and-culture","tag-somerville-art-council"],"yoast_head":"\nSomerville arts scene gets vibe checked at community forum - Cambridge Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=386\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Somerville arts scene gets vibe checked at community forum - Cambridge Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At a community-led \u201cstate of the arts\u201d forum in Union Square Monday, keeping Somerville a creative hub was top of mind. 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