Arts and culture strategy 2023-28
Social cohesion, along with economic mobility, is a core pillar of our strategic plan. The first step of our social cohesion strategy—to strengthen and expand the local arts and culture ecosystem–is currently under development. This new arts and culture strategic initiative will be launched spring 2025.
According to a 2022 report, “WE-making: How Arts and Culture Unite People to Work Toward Community Well-Being,” arts and culture amplifies the four drivers of social cohesion:
- relationships
- a sense of belonging
- an orientation toward the common good
- a willingness to participate
The arts promote shared experiences, facilitating communication and understanding, and encouraging empathy and connection among people from various backgrounds and cultures.
We are developing the new initiative in partnership with local arts and culture nonprofits, artists, and community stakeholders. Our aim is to invest in arts for social cohesion and meet key needs in our local arts and culture sector. Learn more about our goals, methodology, and timeline for this work below.
Then and now: Arts and culture work at CCF
CCF has a long history of supporting arts and culture through grants to community-based nonprofit organizations that enhance Cambridge’s cultural richness.
In 2020, we established the Cultural Capital Fund to preserve cultural vibrancy in Cambridge in the present and future. When the pandemic hit, the Fund met urgent needs in the local arts and culture sector. The Foundation also created the Cambridge Artist Relief Fund to support artists who lost their livelihoods due to COVID-19’s impacts.
In winter 2023, CCF joined the Barr Foundation’s Creative Commonwealth Initiative (CCW), a project engaging community foundations across Massachusetts and providing resources and support to build and strengthen arts and culture strategies within their local context. With CCW support, CCF is developing priorities and program strategies that help achieve the goals outlined in our strategic plan.
Also in 2023, in partnership with Arrow Street Arts, we opened the Arrow Street Arts Fund, which aims to increase access to affordable and welcoming arts spaces in Cambridge by providing subsidized use of a newly renovated Arrow Street Arts multi-space venue located at 2 Arrow Street in Harvard Square.
Strategy implementation
In Summer 2024, CCF’s Programs and Grantmaking team will begin research, outreach and ideation, working with a consultant to execute a landscape analysis of organizations with directly or indirect ties to Cambridge’s arts and culture ecosystems and capacity to drive social cohesion. This work will shape a new arts and culture strategic initiative that will be launched in 2025. Learn about our methodology for developing strategic initiatives.
