The arts are having a resurgence in the city post-pandemic. Murals and other public art are popping up in village centers, and live music can be heard in parks and courtyards. Several organizations bring the arts alive in the city of Newton. Here is a brief guide to the larger umbrella organizations. In the future, we’ll highlight some of the many artists and arts organizations who contribute to the arts scene in our city. Collectively all aim to bring more arts to Newton, so they work together as much as possible.
Newton Cultural Development (the City of Newton’s Office of Cultural Development) is part of the Newton Parks, Recreation & Culture Department, under the direction of Paula Gannon and located in the old branch library at 1294 Centre Street in Newton Centre. Alongside community collaborators, this municipal agency operates as “a presence for equal access to arts and culture throughout the City of Newton.” It administers and executes the Harvest Festival, Family Fun Day, the Fourth of July celebration, free Summer Concerts at the Newton Centre Bowl, Halloween Window Painting, and Holiday Lights at City Hall. Year-round programming centering around the arts includes Time for Partners (toddler art and music), the City Hall Galleries, and Art in Bloom Newton. The Office of Cultural Development receives financial support for staff and programming from the City budget, and this is supplemented with community grants from Newton Community Pride and financial support and donations from local business partners. Paula Gannon also is a non-voting member of the Newton Cultural Council.
Newton Cultural Council (NCC) is essentially the local version of the Mass Cultural Council (MCC), which is the largest grassroots cultural funding network in the state. The NCC is comprised of Mayoral-appointed volunteers and has awarded approximately $40,000 per year in grants to Newton creatives, non-profits, humanitarians, and scientists to fund cultural programs that have included poetry, theatre, music, lectures, festivals, public art, and dance performances. The mission of the NCC is “to contribute to the cultural vitality of Newton by funding excellence in creative, cultural and humanistic projects of Newton cultural organizations, artists, and humanists that benefit and enrich our community.” The MCC allocates approximately $20,000 per year to Newton, and Mayor Fuller, the first Mayor to do so, matches that amount. Emily O’Neil and Christopher Pitts are the current co-chairs.
Newton Cultural Alliance (NCA), incorporated in 2009, is a non-profit membership-based organization led by a Board of Directors, Laurel Farnsworth, President, and Adrienne Hartzell Knudsen, Managing Director. The NCA’s mission is to promote, enhance, and sustain arts and culture through member advocacy, economic development, and collaborative facilities with creative community programming. In 2012, NCA purchased the historic Nathaniel Allen Homestead, a Newton landmark on the National Register of Historic Places, located at 35 Webster Street in West Newton. The NCA spent $8 million to restore the property for adaptive reuse as a Newton hub for community arts and cultural activities. The Allen Center (TAC) construction was completed in 2021 and is open and available for programming. While the NCA has received CPA funding from the City for the restoration of the Allen House, the NCA receives no other funding from the City of Newton.
Newton Community Pride (NCP), founded in 1989, is an independent non-profit whose mission is to build community through free and accessible arts and culture programming, public art, beautification projects, and volunteerism. It receives no financial support from the City of Newton. NCP is led by Executive Director Blair Sullivan and a volunteer 16-member Board of Directors, chaired by Gloria Gavris. Since 2020, NCP has installed several public art programs in our village centers, including the Artful Pianos project, Newton Out Doors (the artist-painted doors across the city), Sit and Let Your Spirit Soar (the artist-painted benches), and FenceArt. NCP also provides live music and festivals three times a year via the Fall Village Music Concert Series, February’s WinterFest, and the summertime Linda Plaut Festival of the Arts. NCP’s Beautification Committee tends to the award-winning gardens in Newton Centre and supports the city-wide spring volunteer cleanup, NewtonSERVES. NCP also supports the wider arts community in the following ways:
- Supplies seed money twice a year to Newton creatives with a Community Micro-Grant program, putting $10,000 into the hands of artists, small organizations, and neighborhood groups to bring great arts and cultural ideas to life;
- Provides the City’s Park, Recreation & Culture Department with financial support for some of its arts/culture programs;
- Awards three high school youth scholarships to foster future artists via a program named for Newton resident and sculptor Nancy Schön, creator of the iconic Make Way for Ducklings statue in Boston’s Public Garden as well as sculptures outside the Newton Free Library; and
- Provides operational and administrative support as the fiscal sponsor for Newton Open Studios, Newton PorchFest, and the Newton Singers.
–article by Christopher Pitts, Co-Chair of the Newton Cultural Council and producer of NCP’s Linda Plaut Festival of the Arts and the Newton Piano Summit
