Boston Art Review Reports on Artist Live-Work Space in Boston

The spring/summer 2022 edition of the Boston Art Review is out, and it includes a fantastic feature by Anita Morson-Matra, “Real Talk,” that focuses on the state of live-work spaces for artists in Boston. 

Anita is an urban planner, creative, and organizational strategist. She is currently working with local cities and towns as they explore economic development tools and policies that support recovery and growth. She is also the founder of Baldwin in the Park & Nubian Nights, where she brings a unique perspective to the challenges facing the artist community, primarily in the area of urban planning and equity through physical space. Through her cross-disciplinary work, she brings a nuanced look at the issues at large in her reporting, looking to history to guide the future of how communities can be strategic and empathetic in finding creative solutions to neighborhood and economic development.

In her first article in a forthcoming series, Anita writes that the answer to securing more equitable spaces for artists is not necessarily building more. She suggests a more holistic look at the entire model, turning to a group of artists and creatives to hear their take on greater equity for artist housing.

In the article, the Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston is highlighted as a key stakeholder in this effort and for our investment thinking outside the box in this area of creative space. Our purchase of Western Avenue | Studios & Lofts is mentioned as one of the most recent examples of space preservation for artists in Greater Boston. 

Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Boston Art Review, Jameson Johnson, serves as the A&BC’s Jurist for the 2022 Walter Feldman Fellowship program, an initiative that supports the professional careers of visual artists through a solo exhibition or alternative presentation of work and curatorial and professional development support.

Explore Issue 08 of Boston Art Review here.