The City of Chelsea is conducting a planning process that will produce an arts and culture strategy with a life cycle of five years. The process will identify Chelsea’s place within the regional arts and cultural framework and examine best practices to form a strategic recommendation.
As physical and demographic changes advance internally, the City of Chelsea is poised to expand its offerings in the areas of art and culture as a means of increasing the quality of life, economic opportunities and community enjoyment for its residents.
The City has historically served as a gateway for immigrants and transplants from the world and by supporting community events, holiday celebrations, and cross-cultural meetings the City celebrates their residents’ cultural diversity, energy and artistic potential.
Guided by consultants Molly Akin and Magali Maïza, the planning process is launching a broad outreach campaign offering quick and easy ways for residents and community stakeholders to share their ideas. There will be various opportunities to get involved such as virtual focus groups, town halls and an online survey asking for residents’ input about their favorite arts and cultural activities. The survey is in English and Spanish and can be found at recreation.chelseama.gov. In addition, residents can share what they enjoy most in Chelsea by texting a photo or message to 617-819-5101.
While the initial planning process is still on-going, they expect the process itself to generate meaningful and practical information and recommendations from all participants regarding viable and sustainable local arts and cultural activities.
“The goal is to understand the meaning of the arts and culture in our diverse community and to create an infrastructure that will shape a sustainable arts and culture growth strategy” stated Marlene Jennings, Chair, Chelsea Cultural Council.
The plan will be guided by an Oversight Committee formed by the Chelsea Cultural Council and informed by a twelve-member Visioning Team with active participation from Chelsea residents, businesses, community, and civic organizations. Visioning Team meetings will take place monthly via Zoom and are open to the public. Specific meeting dates will be posted on the City of Chelsea website.
The project is supported by the Chelsea Cultural Council, the Department of Health & Human Services, and the Chelsea Recreation and Cultural Affairs Division.