New CFMW Action Project brings together data, community voices, and philanthropic investment to expand access, support artists, and strengthen creative spaces.
The Community Foundation for MetroWest today announced the launch of ARTbuilds, a new CFMW Action Project and regional investment strategy that will guide philanthropic investment in arts and culture across MetroWest. Designed to strengthen a vibrant, accessible arts and culture community, ARTbuilds is guided by local data and community input and will invest in artists, arts organizations, and creative spaces to expand access, strengthen communities, and support the region’s economy.
ARTbuilds expands on CFMW’s longstanding commitment to arts and culture and its role in bringing partners together across MetroWest. The initiative will invest in three core areas: physical spaces for arts and culture, accessibility for residents of all backgrounds and abilities, and support for working and teaching artists who help residents experience and create art close to home.
“Arts and culture are essential to the strength, identity, and well-being of MetroWest,” said Jay Kim, Executive Director of the Community Foundation for MetroWest. “Through ARTbuilds, we’re bringing together community voices, local data, and philanthropic investment to support the creative people, organizations, and places that make our region more connected, more inclusive, and more economically vibrant. This is about recognizing the arts not as a luxury, but as a core part of how communities thrive.”
Since 1995, CFMW has granted nearly $3 million to arts organizations, including $2.5 million in the last decade alone, supporting 130 unique organizations across all 33 cities and towns in the region. ARTbuilds builds on that legacy with a long-term strategy to invest in the people, places, and programs that make arts and culture accessible, sustainable, and central to community life.
ARTbuilds is informed by CFMW’s Impact MetroWest initiative, which tracks community indicators across the region and now includes arts and culture data. Recent data highlights the scale and impact of the region’s arts and culture sector: in 2022, more than 4.5 million people attended arts and culture organizations in MetroWest; in 2023, 83.5 percent of MetroWest K-12 students took at least one arts course; and in 2022, the region had 5.5 arts, entertainment and recreation establishments per 10,000 residents, a 14.6 percent increase over the previous decade.
ARTbuilds was facilitated by CFMW’s inclusion in the Barr Foundation‘s Creative Commonwealth Initiative, a ten-year effort to strengthen community foundations as key resources for the arts across Massachusetts. CFMW was selected for the initiative because of its longstanding investment in arts and culture, its use of community data to guide investment and its commitment to expanding the role of the arts across MetroWest communities.
As part of its pre-launch work, CFMW engaged more than 60 community members through facilitated listening sessions to identify priorities and opportunities in MetroWest’s arts and culture landscape. Those conversations shaped ARTbuilds’ priorities: strengthening creative spaces, expanding participation, and supporting the artists and organizations that bring communities together.
CFMW also announced the members of the ARTbuilds Community Advisory Board, a group of regional arts, civic, and community leaders who will help guide the initiative and ensure it remains responsive to local priorities. The enthusiasm for ARTbuilds was reflected in the 65 applications for five advisory roles. The Community Advisory Board includes Laura Reyes Freelance bassoonist, Arts Administrator, and Consultant; Archana Menon, Associate Director for Arts & Culture, City of Newton; Mari Jae Benning, Chair of the Hopkinton Cultural Council and co-founder of The Art Oasis Natick; Stephond Goler, Founder and CEO of Citixen Joy; and Melina List, Founder of the Framingham Disability Cultural Series.
ARTbuilds is CFMW’s newest Action Project, joining Equity in Education, Workforce Development, and Homelessness Prevention. Action Projects are CFMW’s targeted funding initiatives that bring partners together to address regional needs, strengthen communities and improve quality of life across MetroWest. Since 2022, CFMW has invested more than $1.8 million through its Action Projects, supporting 22 projects and serving 4,400 MetroWest residents.
Through ARTbuilds, CFMW will continue bringing partners together, strengthening local organizations, and helping donors invest where they can make the greatest difference. The initiative will support nonprofit partners, amplify artists’ and arts organizations’ voices, and help donors make strategic investments that strengthen MetroWest’s cultural infrastructure and economic future.
