July 29, 2010 — Gov. Deval Patrick signed a bill into law this week that allows communities to create state-sponsored cultural districts to stimulate new arts and cultural activity, which could spur development of nonprofits.

The law directs the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC), a state agency supporting the arts, humanities, and sciences, to create a new program that designates local districts to "attract artists and cultural enterprises to a community, encourage business and job development, establish tourist destinations, preserve and reuse historic buildings, enhance property values, and foster local cultural development."

The legislation includes no new funds for MCC, so the cultural districts program will offer no grants or other financial rewards to communities, at least in its first year. It directs MCC to work with other state government agencies to "identify state incentives and resources to enhance cultural districts."

The MCC will work over the coming months to create guidelines for the program with input from those agencies, the cultural community, and the broader public.

MCC Communications Director Gregory Liakos noted, “Nonprofit arts, heritage and science organizations will be central to the development of cultural districts here, as they are in other states. In most cases they will provide the facilities and the programming around which communities will identify the districts, plan activities, and market themselves to residents and visitors.”

"We’ve seen many examples of how arts and culture help to revitalize our communities," said Representative John Keenan of Salem, House chair of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts, and Cultural Development. "A cultural district will be one more tool that cities and towns can employ in these efforts."

The Joint Committee’s Co-Chair, Sonia Chang-Díaz of Boston, added: "The creative sector is a major source of strength for the Massachusetts economy, and contributes to the vitality of the Boston neighborhoods that I represent. So I’m delighted that we now have one more way to help this sector grow and thrive."