Newton state congressional candidates discussed funding for the arts in a Thursday night event hosted by MASSCreative, a Boston-based arts organization.
“I think it’s very vital that we continue to invest in our arts and culture,” said Nathan Persampieri, a Newton resident. “We need to continue to invest in initiatives here in the city and all over Massachusetts as they are underfunded”
The event, officially titled the “Create the Vote Candidate Forum 2024,” was held in the Allen Center for the Arts in West Newton.
“We are a statewide advocacy and organizing group focused on making sure that we have a strong, equitable and inclusive creative sector that everyone benefits from in Massachusetts,” said Emily Ruddock, MASSCreative’s executive director.
Kay Khan, a Democrat representing the 11th Middlesex district, moderated the event. Khan will not seek re-election in November, and Amy Sangiolo and Steve Yanovsky, the two candidates to replace her, were also in attendance.
Sangiolo is the Democrat running to represent the 11th Middlesex district. She spoke about the importance of the arts on Thursday night.
“I think it’s so vital for our young students and our young folks to really learn and appreciate the arts,” Sangiolo said. “I think one of the biggest things we need to do is invest more in our arts and culture sectors.”
Yanovsky is the Republican candidate for the 11th Middlesex district. He emphasized that arts should not be funded with more taxes on citizens, but rather through private funding.
“Arts are extremely important to everyone, and I hope to be able to help contribute to this need,” Yanovsky said. “My goal is to be able to harness the power of the private sector to make sure that arts and music are fully funded, but privately, not through excessive taxation.”
Greg Schwartz, a Democrat who is running uncontested for the state representative seat in Middlesex 12th district, was also in attendance. He said that it’s important that public schools have enough funding for the arts.
“We need to make sure the arts are available to folks from all different backgrounds,” Schwartz said. “[And] make sure that public school funding for the arts is stable and reliably present for the programming that we all know is so valuable.”
Some of the major issues discussed were a lack of performing spaces in Newton, art budgets in schools, and funding for public arts projects, like murals.
The three candidates agreed that performance spaces in Newton were underutilized, and though they all agreed the arts were important, they disagreed about how money should be raised to support it.
Yanovsky’s plan for the arts was focused on charity.
“My goal, as I say for just about every purpose, is to make sure that people keep more of their money and they’re able to give more of their money to charitable contributions,” Yanovsky said.
Sangiolo responded to Yanovsky, saying that private support won’t be enough to keep up the arts in the city.
“Despite what you’re saying, I have to disagree that you can’t just rely on private support,” Sangiolo said, “Everyone’s looking for that private support, and everyone’s fundraising from the same pool of people. That’s why I’m a firm believer that the state needs to step in”.
