The vision for the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) was originally to reuse an electronics components plant to display contemporary art. Its vision grew to be a cultural partnership, with “contemporary performing and interdisciplinary arts, artist residences, and stronger ties to the history and culture of the local community”. It is one of the examples featured in The Creative Community Builder’s Handbook on pages 57-61, with photos on page 130. The case study Culture and Revitalization: The Economic Effects of MASS MoCA on its Community, available through the Center for Creative Community Development (http://www.c-3-d.org/), identifies the effects of the opening of MASS MoCA on its neighborhood, including key financial indicators. The report is also the authors’ “first step in our developing a template by which we can study and compare neighborhood regeneration via the introduction of a new cultural arts organization”.
