Role: Design Consultant

Client: City of Somerville & the Somerville Arts Council

Team: Forecast Public Art; Justice + Joy

Year: 2023

Cultural planning to build capacity and develop a comprehensive plan for a city with a vibrant arts community at risk of displacement.

PROBLEM

The City of Somerville is a vibrant hub of artists and creatives, and has pioneered cultural planning strategies, yet the city had never conducted a comprehensive plan to guide its development. Very quickly it became clear that although there was a desire for planning to support local artists, there was a disconnect between its strong base of cultural workers and its innovative zoning that incentivizes the creation of creative space. While Somerville is home to a large number of artists, it lacks the organizational capacity to advocate for change. Somerville was full of potential, yet without a plan in place, there was disagreement about the strategies and tactics that were needed to enact change.

SOLUTION

The Somerville Cultural Capacity Plan (SCCP) situated its understanding of the local context and its recommendations for action through conversations amongst the city’s many affinity groups. These small-group conversations were led by local Ambassadors who used the Innovators’ Compass as a way to develop a shared understanding of what is happening (and why), and to catalyze a groundswell of organizing efforts by cultural practitioners to enact new ideas. Meanwhile, the consultants and Ambassadors analyzed the local zoning ordinance and made recommendations to change it and other municipal policies and programs to better serve the local arts and cultural community.

OUTCOME

• The SCCP was adopted by the Mayor and City Council in 2024

• City Council voted to amend the zoning ordinance to update the Arts and Creative Enterprise (ACE) definitions based on recommendations of the SCCP

• Somernova, a large-scale redevelopment of buildings in the Fabrication District, negotiated a community benefits agreement with the local arts community and garnered their support before City Council