CREATE NEWTON: Newton's Comprehensive Arts & Culture Plan

We are grateful to the over 1000 members of the Newton creative community who completed the Create Newton online survey, participated in focus groups and one-on-one discussions, and provided valuable input in the creation of the CREATE NEWTON Comprehensive Arts & Culture Plan for the City of Newton.

We are delighted to share the plan in two formats:

• Print-friendly (and downloadable) PDF

The goals and strategies laid out in this Plan offer a clear road map for advancing arts and culture. The next steps involve the facilitation of discussions regarding a new or re-imagined organization that serves as a full-service arts and cultural nonprofit supporting arts, culture, and civic activities and initiatives in Newton. With this Plan as a framework, we hope major stakeholders will continue to come together as we collaborate on the priority items and next steps. The immediate goal is implementation. Using this planning process, people passionate about arts and culture and a broad group of partners will come together to bring the plan alive.

Help us CREATE NEWTON together!
December 2019

Community Design for Arts & Culture

Committee Members

• Gloria M. Gavris - Chair
• Vicki Danberg - Newton City Councilor
• Robert DeRubeis - Commissioner of Parks, Recreation & Culture, City of Newton
• Paula Gannon - Director of Cultural Development, City of Newton
• Dana Hanson - Director of Community Engagement & Inclusion, City of Newton
• Adrienne Hartzell Knudsen - Managing Director, Newton Cultural Alliance
• Sachiko Isihara - Executive Director, Suzuki School of Newton
• Lindsay Pike - Ceramic Artist
• Howard Sholkin - President, Newton Community Pride
• Jonathan Yeo - Chief Operating Officer, City of Newton

Committee Mission Statement

The Community Design for Arts & Culture Committee (CDAC) seeks to develop and recommend a viable plan for the City of Newton that will strengthen, expand and sustain arts and culture as an integral part of our community and have Newton be a vibrant center for artistic expression, performance and programming. The Committee's vision to invest in the arts will be viewed through the prism of our history and core values, embracing the vital contributions arts and culture make to a welcoming, culturally diverse, economically prosperous and multigenerational Newton.