Creative Sector Advocacy Week: Arts & Culture Partners Group Photo

As part of MASSCreative’s statewide Creative Sector Advocacy Week, the Arts & Culture Partners of New Bedford will gather at the New Bedford Whaling Museum for a collective show of visibility and support for the creative sector.

Join local artists, creatives, and cultural leaders on Wednesday, March 4, from 1:00–1:30 PM, for a group photo that affirms the essential role of arts and culture in New Bedford and across Massachusetts. This moment of unity highlights the vibrancy, economic impact, and civic value of the creative sector while standing in solidarity with advocates statewide.

Creative Sector Advocacy Week is an annual, statewide initiative that celebrates Massachusetts’ creative economy while mobilizing artists and cultural workers to take action—through local gatherings, coordinated advocacy efforts, and a day of performance and visibility at the State House. Whether participating in person or from home, Advocacy Week offers meaningful ways to connect, be seen, and help ensure a strong future for the creative sector.

All are welcome. Please arrive promptly to be included in the photo.

Brief History of the Arts & Culture Partners of New Bedford

The —established in 1996—has long engaged with cultural partners to preserve and interpret the city’s maritime heritage, and it embeds arts and creative interpretation into its programming through initiatives such as its Artist-in-Residence and makerspace activities.

The collaborative cultural ecosystem in New Bedford has grown significantly over the past couple decades, rooted in long-standing efforts to integrate arts, heritage, and community engagement. —founded in 1999—is a monthly cultural night that helped reactivate downtown through creative programming and partnerships among galleries, businesses, nonprofits, and artists. Over time it became a well-established platform for shared cultural engagement across the city.

The —designated by the Massachusetts Cultural Council in 2014—serves as the formal hub for New Bedford’s cultural, artistic, and economic activity, drawing together over 100 partners including museums, galleries, performance venues, and cultural programs. Annual gatherings and events such as the Seaport Art Walk reinforce this infrastructure and broad participation across the creative community.

Since 2018, these three entities (AHA! New Bedford, the Seaport Cultural District, and the Whaling National Historical Park) have intentionally convened on a quarterly basis as the Arts & Culture Partners of New Bedford. This partnership builds on the City of New Bedford’s first-ever strategic arts and culture plan, New Bedford Creative: Our Art, Our Culture, Our Future (published December 2018), which formalized shared goals for cultural collaboration, cross-sector communication, and coordinated programming across the city. The quarterly meetings create a structured forum for leaders in arts, history, heritage, tourism, and civic institutions to synchronize calendars, share resources, and identify collaborative opportunities that amplify New Bedford’s cultural vibrancy, economic impact, and community engagement.

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