Arts & Creativity

Arts and creativity are essential for vibrant, vital, and engaged communities.

Elevating the arts and enabling creative expression to engage and inspire a dynamic, thriving Massachusetts.

Great art transforms the way we engage with the world. It brings beauty into our lives. Through creativity we can transcend conventions and generate new ideas, alternatives, and possibilities. Arts and creativity have the power to connect us with each other, to help us understand our dynamic environment, and to imagine new, better, different futures.

Against a backdrop of rapidly changing demographics, technological advancements, and evolving art forms, Barr’s Arts & Creativity program seeks to invest in bold ideas and leaders. Our overarching goal is to elevate the arts and enable creative expression to engage and inspire a dynamic, thriving Massachusetts. We will pursue this goal through three strategies: advancing the field’s capacity to adapt, take risks, and engage changing audiences in new ways; fostering opportunities to connect the arts to other disciplines and sectors; and activating public support for the arts.

Arts & Creativity Strategies

To achieve our goal of elevating the arts and enabling creative expression to engage and inspire a dynamic, thriving Massachusetts, we pursue three strategies:

Adapting boldly. Spanning sectors. Activating public support.

Learn more about Arts & Creativity Strategies

Leo March via Boston Creates

What happens when artists are at the intersection of planning and community?

To capture how Bostonians think about their city’s creative potential, we enlisted the help of the people on the front lines—Boston’s working artists. This series of videos and essays reveals how a group of artists infused creativity, imagination, artistry, and fun into a citywide planning process.

Hear from the artists involved with Boston Creates