State Senator Paul Mark of the Berkshire, Hampden, Franklin and Hampshire District, held the inaugural Western Mass Arts Economic Impact Summit at MASS MoCA in North Adams last week to connect local arts stakeholders with top state leaders. Mark said that amid sweeping cuts to the arts from the federal level, it was important for the commonwealth’s leadership to show solidarity with a region desperate to not lose precious income, jobs, and tourism draws.
“I think it's our third biggest industry, definitely statewide," he said. "It might even creep into second in Berkshire County and beyond. So, it's a big jobs sector, it's a big draw for people coming in from out of the region and out of the state, it's extremely important. And this is a moment where the arts are under attack. Not just have we lost a partner federally, but the arts are under attack in terms of funding and in terms of their freedom of expression from the federal government.”
The arts have offered communities in Western Massachusetts a rare chance to replace the void left by the withdrawal of the manufacturing industry by the end of the 20th century, attracting thousands of tourists and millions of dollars to a region desperately need of jobs and income.
Some political heavyweights attended the summit, including Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll and the president of the Massachusetts State Senate, Karen Spilka, to meet with representatives of the Western Mass arts scene and hear about their struggles.
One of the most material policy points the senator stressed was the importance of increasing the funding for state entities like the Mass Cultural Council and Mass Humanities and other avenues for the arts sector to receive resources and support in the state’s next budget.
“We're facing so many cuts and losses of revenue from the federal level and everything, everything is under attack, and so anywhere we can invest that is going to pay dividends, I think, is extremely important," said the state senator. "And this is a place, especially for Western Massachusetts, that I think a relatively small investment out of a $61 billion budget is going to pay back in a major way.”
But Mark’s concerns during the second Trump administration aren’t just about money for the arts, but about free speech writ large.
“The Senate just passed this bill about book bans at libraries," he said. "I think it's important that the legislature and the governor also considers this is happening. It's happening more and more. The arts and the cultural sector are definitely a direct target of the Trump administration, and it's important that we fight back against violations of the First Amendment. It's important that we fight back against censorship, and that's true whether you're Democrat, Republican, a liberal or conservative. Protecting the freedom and integrity of expression is so essential to a democracy.”
Mark, who chairs the Massachusetts Senate’s Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development, says there’s a lot on the line if Western Mass can’t keep the lights on at cultural institutions, and says he fears a domino effect if the situation grows any more dire.
“if there aren't grants available if there aren't avenues to work together with state agencies to learn how to be sustainable and how to be profitable into the future, then you're talking about potentially venues closing," said Mark. "And when people come here and they visit, whether it's for a work assignment or whether it's just for a trip, inevitably they realize they really like it here, it's beautiful here. While we think it's getting unaffordable, it's certainly more affordable than many places that people are coming from, and we need we need some growth here. We need steady growth in the Berkshires if we want to have our voice heard in the future. So, if we're not able to have the tools we need to do these things, it's going to have an impact in terms of our local economy. And there's always a multiple multiplier effect from that and in terms of our population stability, and that hurts schools, that hurts transportation options, that hurts local businesses.”
The Massachusetts budget process for fiscal year 2027, during which Mark will hope to use the summit’s momentum for increasing – or at least maintaining – arts-and-culture funding, will begin in January.
