Supporting cultural space

• Model: Cultural Facilities Fund

Mass Cultural Council manages this fund in collaboration with MassDevelopment. It provides major improvement grants to nonprofit cultural organizations.

• Model: Seattle’s Cultural Space Agency 

This is a city-sponsored public development authority and mission-driven real estate agency. It was created to develop and steward permanently affordable space for arts and culture.

• Model: Community Arts Stabilization Trust (CAST) in San Francisco

CAST purchases and leases space for the exclusive use of nonprofit arts organizations.

• Model: Create a version of Inclusionary Development Policy for cultural space

This would require cultural space or funding for cultural space as part of commercial space developments. Recent zoning amendments in the South End have established this as a tool in Boston.

• Model: Increase Linkage Fees in order to allocate a % to cultural space projects and programs.

Boston’s current Linkage Program requires commercial developments over 100,000 square feet in Boston to pay into funds. These funds support the creation of affordable housing and workforce development. A small increase and percentage allocation would create millions of dollars for cultural space.

• Model: Leverage philanthropic financing and donor-advised funds

Create more low-interest or forgivable loans for cultural space projects and operators.

• Model: Creative Land Trust

• Model: Grow cultural planning processes to be more integrated in neighborhood planning like transportation and infrastructure planning.

• Model: Build Art Space Equitably (BASE) Certification

BASE's goal is to grow capacity in communities of color to build permanent affordable cultural spaces. It seeks to extend the "onramp" to commercial real estate development further into cultural communities.

• Model: Community Vision 

Community Vision provides nonprofits, small businesses, and social enterprises in California with strategic investment and guidance to deepen work, scale impact, and strengthen communities.

• Model: Cultural Space Ambassadors (CSA)

CSA is a body of artists and cultural workers that act as representatives of their respective work and the arts sector. They work towards creating and preserving space in Oakland. The program creates peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing on new operating and space preservation models.

• Model: London’s Culture-at-Risk Office 

The office provides direct support and advocacy for creative businesses, cultural organizations, and community groups. It aims to move at-risk cultural and creative spaces from immediate threat to long-term sustainability.

• Model: Require reporting of cultural and creative sector impact of development projects.

Establish processes for capturing impact and mitigation strategies related to arts and culture. This is often done for environment and transportation in the Development Review process.

• Model: London’s Cultural Infrastructure Map 

This is an interactive mapping tool that catalogues cultural space in Seattle. The goal is to count every square foot of every cultural space in the city and cross reference with demographic data.

• Model: SpaceLab NW

This map brings together cultural space research and information that has not existed in one place. It plots the location of a wide range of cultural spaces. Users can view it alongside useful data like transport networks and population growth.