Create the Vote

ne of the aims of the Arts Foundation is to have a voice at the legislative table, advocating for the arts to ensure they remain a key component of our community. Create the Vote O

In collaboration with MASSCreative, we have taken steps to strengthen our advocacy through the Create the Vote Campaign, highlighting the important role that arts and culture plays on Cape Cod.

The initiative encourages candidates for political office to develop dynamic cultural policies and to lead by example by convening community leaders on issues related to the arts and by attending art and cultural events. The campaign also engages in broad-based public education by holding public meetings with candidates, artists and cultural leaders while also publicizing each candidate’s response to a questionnaire about the arts, leading to a more informed citizenry at the polls.

AFCC Executive Director Julie Wake touted the importance of Create the Vote campaign as it creates awareness to the impact of the arts and provides a platform for Cape Cod’s art community to outreach with local, regional, state and federal leaders on the need for a healthy, vibrant artistic scene. “Arts and culture are as fundamental to our regional identity as sand dunes and salty air. We are a community that truly values the enormous contribution the arts make to Cape Cod,” she said. “That is why we are so excited to be part of MASSCreative’s Create the Vote campaign because it helps us strengthen the arts through an open dialogue with political candidates and our legislative leaders.”

Both Wake and Matt Wilson, Executive Director of MASSCreative, were eager to see how Create the Vote enhances arts on Cape Cod. The campaign has witnessed success in other parts of the state; in 2013, candidate Marty Walsh pledged to create a cabinet level position for the arts when running for Mayor of Boston. He later fulfilled this promise by hiring Julie Burros as Boston’s Chief of Arts and Culture.

“Arts intersect with all of the important issues we discuss during political campaigns such as education, the economy, public health and safety, and how to create communities in which we want to live, work and play,” said Wilson. “We are excited to hear from the candidates for state representative and state senator on Cape Cod and hear their vision for the

role that arts and culture can play here.”

THE CREATE THE VOTE COALITION IS A GROWING NUMBER OF ACTIVE ARTS LEADERS AND INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

Arts Foundation of Cape Cod Brave Horse Cape Cod Community College Cape Cod Theatre Company, Home of Harwich Jr. Theatre Cape Conservatory Cotuit Center for the Arts The Cultural Center of Cape Cod The Good Clothing Company Highfield Hall & Gardens John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum MASSCreative Provincetown Art Association and Museum Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill Wellfleet Preservation Hall