Reassurances came Tuesday for people worried about the direction of creative culture in Somerville, where longtime Arts Council executive director Greg Jenkins steps down March 6.
Far from making cuts to the arts, new mayor Jake Wilson said in an email he is creating a cabinet-level leader as part of a citywide reorganization in addition to finding a next Arts Council director with “open, transparent searches.”
“This new role will head up a new Culture & Community Department overseeing arts, Parks and Recreation and libraries, and [work on] finding artistic and cultural opportunities to activate these spaces and functions through a creative lens,” Wilson said.
The council and its team will also get additional, temporary support for its programming between now and the summer as the two positions are filled, Wilson said.
The announcement followed a Monday meeting with the Arts Council board, whose members said they had been taken by surprise by news of Jenkins’ departure.
Jenkins announced the news Feb. 12 on Instagram, calling the move “surprising, and not at all what I wanted.” Wilson confirmed the change Feb. 13 on Facebook.
More than two dozen letters were sent to officials over the past few days from artists wondering what will be the council’s “new direction” mentioned by Jenkins and who would lead the work.
The mayor thanked the writers, saying that “hearing from so many of you over the past week reinforced how grateful I am to live in this place where people care and want to contribute their time, effort, energy and brilliance to making Somerville a place where art thrives.”
Wilson also apologized to the community, making it clear that Jenkins’ announcement was a surprise to him as much as to them and came outside a planned transition.
“The way news of the Somerville Arts Council reorganization became public was not how I intended for it to happen. You deserved to hear this from me first, with full explanation, and you didn’t. I’m sorry for the alarm that caused,” Wilson said. “And I want to set the record straight: We are not pulling back from the arts. We are doubling down.”
Public reaction
Immediate public reaction to the statement was guardedly optimistic. While many saluted Jenkins’ work and were sorry to see him go, most people were satisfied to look ahead. One comment on Reddit captured a range of feelings among many people: “There’s something to be said for being a decent, dependable manager. But I look forward to following what happens next with SAC and the new leadership,” wrote a user calling themselves Ill-Victory-5351.
A couple of Somerville artists were looking for more information. (Having spoken with them for an earlier story, before it was known Wilson would release a statement, we returned to get reactions to the new developments.)
“There’s details to be filled in,” said Bekka Teerlink Wright, artist, cartoonist and Open Studios organizer. And: “There’s a lot to digest in there. I am still kind of trying to understand all of what he meant,” said Susan Berstler, founder of The Nave art gallery in Teele Square and a former council board member.
Each had qualms about how deeply Wilson understands the nuances of the roles he’s recasting. Wright hoped he understood that the council is a “very small staff with an intense load of work. For them to do more, there needs to be more than a new hire – there needs to be more budget, more staff.” Berstler agreed that Wilson needed to understand the volunteer culture of the arts community, but had her own concern – that the mayor’s understanding of the arts in Somerville was overly focused on events, which are “not necessarily the best way to support the artists in this city.”
“During the summer – starting in May, actually – there can be between three to five events in one week. How many more events do you want?” Berstler said.
Both artists said they were still absorbing the letter’s contents, which Berstler said were being discussed fervently Tuesday by the community. “The mayor’s suggested changes are pretty sweeping. I’m not 100 percent against it, but I don’t really understand all of them completely,” she said. For instance, would cabinet-level representation be good for the council if the same leader had potentially competing interests in the departments they oversee?
“I feel like he needs to get some feedback from the community,” Berstler said of Wilson, acknowledging that this was likely to happen over the coming months. “I do think the mayor was taken aback a bit by the public outcry. Somerville has a very, very active and tight-knit arts community.” (An online petition started by Berstler to “ensure transparency and representation in Somerville’s new arts direction and leadership” drew 615 signatures within a few days.)
Wilson’s letter follows, edited lightly for publication:
Arts Council update from Mayor Wilson
A message to the Somerville Arts Community, and all who support local arts and creativity
First off, I owe you an apology. Here’s our plan, and why we believe it will strengthen the already world-class arts community in Somerville.
We are elevating the arts inside City Hall.
Starting in the next budget cycle, we’ll look to hire a new, cabinet-level leader as part of a citywide reorganization. This is in addition to the next Arts Council director. This new role will head up a new Culture & Community Department overseeing Arts, Parks and Recreation, and Libraries, and finding artistic and cultural opportunities to activate these spaces and functions through a creative lens.
For the first time, arts and culture will have a seat at the cabinet level – the same level as Infrastructure, Public Health and Strategic Planning. This isn’t symbolic. It means someone grounded in the arts is in the room when key decisions get made.
The Arts Council will continue to have its own dedicated director who will build upon the council’s core mission: cultivating and celebrating the artistic expressions of the Somerville community. This means continuing to invest in artists and makers, countering displacement through strategic policy and initiatives and connecting the arts to every corner of our city – including building on efforts to reach people and places that have historically been underserved. In short, we intend to propel forward the extraordinary work the Arts Council has historically done, and offer more support, resources, access, and structure.
The goal is simple: more collaboration, more reach, even more innovation and more access to the arts for every resident across our diverse city.
We are conducting two open, transparent searches for new leadership.
Both of the searches, for the new Culture & Community Cabinet Executive Director and the Arts Council Director, will be transparent, fair and thorough, and are engaging the Somerville Arts Council board with the goal of delivering world-class leadership at the helm of our artistic institutions.
We are investing in the Arts Council staff.
The people doing this work are powerhouses. They have creative vision and operational skill and they have helped make Somerville not just a hub for the arts but a wellspring of creativity. We will provide the support they need. We will bring on temporary support between now and the summer as we hire the new leadership roles and undergo this transition.
I also want to extend a huge thanks to Greg Jenkins for his 25 years of dedicated service to the Somerville Arts, and an indelible contribution to the city’s identity and economy.
We are building on the core mission.
We will continue to build arts infrastructure, working with the vibrant arts groups, organizations and businesses that are the foundation of our city’s cultural economic ecosystem. We also intend to move full steam ahead supporting innovative initiatives such as Nibble, SomArt performance programming at the Hive and the Intercambio language and cultural exchange. It is the daily work, commitment, dedication and organizing of local artists that drive our cultural and creative impact. In addition to recognizing and supporting the arts, now it’s time to pursue the priorities identified through the Cultural Trust, Creative Displacement Committee and other community-driven reports and research.
We are protecting and growing the events that make Somerville Somerville.
ArtBeat. PorchFest. SomerStreets festivals. These events are expressions of who we are. They also serve as economic engines for our city. In addition to the two leadership roles working in deep alignment, we are looking to strengthen the existing events role to allow its full focus on activating our city with festivals, activities and more so our events can sustain, grow and, in true Somerville style, celebrate the weird. And PorchFest will be back as strong as ever – and with more porta-johns.
Beyond the festivals, we want to activate more of our public spaces, open up underused buildings, and bring more art into the streets, parks and neighborhoods where people already are.
We are fully committed to the work ahead.
The Somerville arts community is an exceptional economic and cultural force. Our job is to earn your trust by deepening that commitment to making this city a place where the arts don’t just survive but grow.
The Somerville arts community is bigger than any institution – it is all of us, together. Our city government will keep the arts at the forefront of all that we do, and keep investing in the makers, musicians, dancers, poets, chefs, and artists representing all artistic genres – as well as supporters who make our arts community what it is. We are going to continue to invest in existing priorities identified through the Cultural Trust and other community-driven reports and research.
Hearing from so many of you over the past week reinforced how grateful I am to live in this place where people care and want to contribute their time, effort, energy and brilliance to making Somerville a place where art thrives.
More to come, and my door, as always, is open.
– Mayor Jake Wilson