An update on the cultural planning process

On June 2, we officially kicked off the public engagement phase with a Town Hall at English High School.   Almost 500 people were on hand that night to learn about the cultural planning process and participate in break-out discussions.  Following the Town Hall, the Boston Creates community engagement teams spread out across the city, holding 118 community conversations in 16 neighborhoods, engaging more than 1100 individuals.  Conversations were held in multiple languages and a special effort was made to engage youth across the city. 

Our team has been hard at work, facilitating more than 40 focus groups, engaging close to 600 participants representing artistic disciplines and service organizations, as well as individuals in education, creative industries, humanities, tourism and economic development.  The team has also conducted individual interviews with stakeholders in city government and cultural institutions across the city. 

The community survey was launched in mid-July and was designed to explore how individuals define and engage in creative activities.  The survey was open to anyone who lives, works or plays in Boston.  So far, more than 2500 people have completed the survey.  If you haven’t had a chance to participate yet, The survey will remain open through the end of the month.  You can access it in English here or in Spanish here.

With such incredible enthusiasm for participation in the process, what have we learned?  On November 2nd,  join us from 6pm – 8pm at The Boston Latin School for the second Boston Creates Town Hall as we review what we’ve learned and develop potential responses. Come join with your fellow Bostonians for this second town hall meeting. Conducted as a workshop, like the first town hall in June, this two-hour session will include a presentation of the community engagement findings and peer group discussion.  

Please RSVP at https://bostoncreatestownhall2.eventbrite.com. We look forward to seeing you there!