On August 15, 2023, the Center for Arts at the Armory (CAA) held an important hybrid in-person and virtual community (Zoom video recording available via the link below) during which the community expressed strong support for CAA and deep frustration with the City of Somerville’s fumbling of the Armory since acquiring it through eminent domain in May 2021. At the meeting, CAA presented its case for a petition which makes the points below.

Reporting close to 800 signatures to date, CAA is seeking 1,000 signatures on the petition by September 8, 2023. Once the petition has concluded, CAA will present the Mayor, Somerville City Council, the Somerville Armory Master Plan Advisory Committee, Somerville Arts Council and the Armory Master Plan consultant, Create Today with the petition, public commentary, and the recording of the August 15th meeting.

The petition created by Arts at the Armory urges the City of Somerville to do the following:

• abandon the proposed model 1 for the Armory building (City as owner and operator model)
• adopt a 3rd party operator model
• issue RFPs for a 3rd party operator and for prospective Armory arts/culture tenants
• create an Armory governance model

Some background:

A year into its ownership of the Armory building, the City instituted an Armory Master Planning Process and hired a consultant team, Create Today, based out of New York, to guide this process. With the Master Planning Process now underway for over a year, the City and Create Today presented for consideration two models for the future of the Armory building. Model 1 proposes “the City as owner and operator” of the Armory building, giving the City full control of the building and its programming. In this model, the Center for Arts at the Armory would be dissolved, and other current Armory tenants would also need to vacate. Model 2 is dubbed “Multiple Tenants,” which proposes the City as the building manager that rents spaces to chosen artists or arts organizations/business, and is similar to how the Armory has existed for nearly 20 years, with the exception that the City would remain as building manager and choose who can occupy the building to fill their chosen arts mandate. During Armory Master Plan community meetings held by the City of Somerville in July/August, City officials had taken the 3rd Party Operator model off the table. CAA and others are now urging City officials to reconsider the omission of the 3rd Party Operator model, and to involve current arts tenants, including CAA, in future plans related to the Armory building.

The recording of the August 15, 2023 community meeting convened by Arts at the Armory can be found here: https://artsatthearmory.org/about/armory-master-plan/, along with the link to the full petition, public commentary, and links to recent articles in the press covering this story.

The Center for Arts at the Armory is located at 191 Highland Avenue, Somerville, MA 02143. To learn more please visit our website, artsatthearmory.org, our Facebook page, and follow us on Instagram at @ArtsattheArmory. Join our mailing list at: https://artsatthearmory.org/about/monthly-newsletter/.

— The Center for Arts at the Armory