FPAC Mission and Impact

The Fort Point Arts Community (FPAC), established in 1980 in Boston’s historic Fort Point, is a non-profit organization committed to cultivating the city’s cultural vibrancy by supporting a diverse community of artists and arts organizations. FPAC promotes the work of artists from Boston and beyond through exhibitions, performances, and speaker series at its two waterfront galleries, often highlighting significant social and environmental issues.

FPAC’s programs include the annual Fort Point Open Studios—Boston’s original open studios event—where the public can tour artists’ studios, view performances, and participate in free art-making activities. Additional initiatives feature a corporate art lending program and ongoing advocacy for permanent, affordable live-work spaces for artists in Fort Point. As one of the largest and most historic artist communities in Massachusetts, FPAC has empowered hundreds of multidisciplinary artists each year by providing platforms to showcase their work in a sought-after neighborhood and by generating supplemental income through art sales, rentals, and paid performances. All exhibitions, receptions, and most events are free and open to the public.

Fort Point Art Community Inc. Non-Profit EIN: 04-2717403

Fort Point Arts Community Statement on Cultural Equity and Diversity

To support a full creative life for all, Fort Point Arts Community commits to championing policies and practices of cultural equity and diversity that empower a just, inclusive, equitable city and nation.

DEFINITION OF CULTURAL EQUITY

Cultural equity embodies the values, policies, and practices that ensure that all people—including but not limited to those who have been historically underrepresented based on race/ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, socioeconomic status, geography, citizenship status, or religion—are represented in the development of arts policy; the support of artists; the nurturing of accessible, thriving venues for expression; and the fair distribution of programmatic, financial, and informational resources.

DEFINITION OF DIVERSITY

By “diversity,” we mean that our community prospectively embraces differences in gender expression and identity, age, culture, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, physical ability, learning style, religion, occupation, nationality, immigration status, socio-economic status, and the many forms of composite subjectivity and life experience that span these differences. Promoting such a broadly inclusive understanding of diversity requires ongoing education and effort, to ensure support, understanding, and awareness from all community members.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & AFFIRMATIONS

In the United States, there are systems of power that grant privilege and access unequally such that inequity and injustice result, and that must be continuously addressed and changed.
Cultural equity is critical to the long-term viability of the arts sector.
We must all hold ourselves accountable, because acknowledging and challenging our inequities and working in partnership is how we will make change happen.

Everyone deserves equal access to a full, vibrant creative life, which is essential to a healthy and democratic society.
The prominent presence of artists in a community challenges inequities and encourages alternatives and community support of such artistic expression is essential.

MODELING THROUGH ACTION

To provide informed, authentic leadership for cultural equity, we strive to…

Pursue cultural consciousness across our organization through substantive learning and formal, transparent policies.
Acknowledge and dismantle any inequities within our policies, systems, programs, and services, and document organizational progress.
Commit time and resources to expand more diverse leadership within our board, staff, membership, network, and advisory bodies.

FUELING FIELD PROGRESS

To pursue needed systemic change related to equity, we strive to…

Encourage substantive learning to build cultural consciousness and to proliferate pro-equity policies and practices by all of our constituencies and audiences.
Improve the cultural leadership pipeline by creating and supporting programs and policies that foster leadership that reflects the full breadth of American society.
Generate and aggregate quantitative and qualitative research related to equity to make incremental, measurable progress towards cultural equity more visible.
Advocate for public and private-sector policy that promotes cultural equity.

We strive to achieve Socially Just Creative Environments through on-going practice, reflection and assessment in the following areas:

Arts: providing and valuing a multiplicity of art forms and artistic genre from around the world.
Workshops and Programming: creating learning curricula, processes, and environments that model and address diversity, equity and inclusion.
Staffing: hiring a diversity of artists, educators and administrators who are demographically representative of the communities we serve and conscientiously committed to elevating equity in their work.
Community Partnerships: creating authentic and mutually beneficial relationships and collaborations.
Work Environment: building a culture that provides professional development and ongoing reflection on eliminating bias and creating equity in our internal- and external-facing work.
Housing: a strong and stable artistic community is an essential component of thriving, vibrant neighborhoods. However, strength and stability can only come from artists who are long-term stakeholders in their communities, including those who own their own homes as well as rent their homes. Often artists live and work within the same space, making equitable access to affordable options a critical part of diversity and inclusion in a community. For home ownership, loan qualification, home-buying and foreclosure prevention are significant challenges for all low- and moderate-income (LMI) individuals and families, especially those with non-traditional income-streams such as artists and independent workers. Similarly, for home rental, rental applications, rental qualification processes, and eviction prevention also present significant challenges. In creating resources for artists, we work to identify similar populations and build these resources to serve them as well, so that our work can benefit the broadest possible constituency.
Work Space: equitable access to affordable workspace for artists and creatives is essential. While often both are provided as live-work studios, developing access to dedicated work space where art is made is a key component of building a vibrant and culturally diverse arts.

Instituted by unanimous board vote, 7.14.2020

Accessibility & Inclusion Policy

Accessibility & Inclusion Policy, adopted March 27, 2026, will be reviewed every 2 years.

The Board of Directors of Fort Point Arts Community affirms FPAC’s commitment to accessibility, cultural equity, and inclusive participation in all programs, communications, spaces, and governance practices. FPAC seeks to remove physical, financial, communication, and participation barriers so that artists, members, visitors, volunteers, and staff of all abilities and backgrounds can fully engage with our community.

Article 1 – Values and Non-Harassment
FPAC is committed to a respectful, harassment-free environment in all FPAC spaces, events, meetings, programs, and communications. Harassment or discriminatory conduct on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion, economic status, or other identity is not tolerated and may result in removal from events or spaces and/or review by the Board.

Article 2 – Physical Access
FPAC will maintain ADA-compatible doors, step-free, and an accessible restroom to the greatest extent feasible. Staff and volunteers will be prepared to assist visitors who need help navigating the gallery or exhibition space. When physical barriers cannot be fully removed, FPAC will seek practical interim solutions that improve access and participation.

Article 3 – Communication and Information Access
Exhibition materials, including wall labels, handouts, and printed information, will be legible: 12-point type or larger, in black or high contrasting colors. Labels will be readable if seated in front of the work. Staff and volunteers will be ready to provide printed guides, verbal explanations, or other reasonable forms of communication support for visitors who request them. Information about how to join FPAC, volunteer, and participate in programs will be clearly available in the gallery and on the website.

Article 4 – Responsive Service
The President, Executive Director, and staff will respond to emails and phone calls in a timely, respectful manner. Every visitor will be welcomed by gallery staff, and staff will offer engagement in a way that respects the visitor’s preferences for interaction or privacy. FPAC will continue to provide a free monthly newsletter so that members and the public can stay informed about exhibitions, events, and opportunities.

Article 5 – Board and Meeting Access
FPAC will support accessible participation in board and committee activities by reimbursing parking expenses for board members when necessary and offering Zoom participation for extra meetings, bad weather, or extreme cold conditions. Meetings and committee work will be scheduled and conducted in ways that reduce unnecessary barriers to participation.

Article 6 – Membership Access

FPAC will offer:

Free membership to all first-time exhibiting artists with FPAC
Free membership for individuals who request it due to financial hardship
Half-price membership for undergraduate and graduate students
Two membership meetings/socials per year

New members will be welcomed personally, and staff and volunteers will invite gallery visitors to join the community when appropriate.

Article 7 – Programming and Exhibitions
FPAC will continue to prioritize free programming, including:

8 exhibitions per year, each lasting 2–2.5 months, with receptions and artist talks when possible; and
30+ concerts and performance evenings or afternoons annually.

FPAC will present at least one non-curated member-only exhibition each year during Fort Point Open Studios, subject to board and staff planning.

Article 8 – Input and Inclusion in Programming
The Exhibition and Programming Committees, board members, and volunteers will regularly provide input to support diverse and inclusive programming. FPAC will hold at least one additional membership-focused social or listening event each year and will distribute surveys to gather feedback and ideas. Members and the public may share input at any time through conversations with staff, written comments, or digital channels.

Article 9 – Artists and Community Outreach to Greater Boston and Beyond
FPAC will use its website, newsletter, social media, and on-site postings to share calls for artists, curators, volunteers, and programs.

FPAC will actively reach artists from other neighborhoods by:

Connecting with neighborhood art associations, galleries, and open-studio events, and
Building relationships through word-of-mouth and networking.

FPAC will strengthen storytelling on the website so that the community’s values, impact, and inclusive practices are clearly communicated.

Article 10 – Website and Digital Accessibility
FPAC will maintain a clear, easy-to-navigate website that:

States the organization’s values and accessibility commitments,
Provides a visible Volunteer page and straightforward ways to contact FPAC, and
Presents calls for entries, curators, and programs in a consistent and accessible format.

FPAC will periodically review its website content and accessibility, including compatibility with assistive technologies, and will work toward further improvement in line with evolving standards.

Article 11 – Review and Accountability
The Board, in collaboration with the Executive Director and staff, will review this Accessibility & Inclusion Policy at least once every two years. Updates will reflect community feedback, organizational changes, and advances in accessibility standards, and will be approved through the Board’s policy-review process.

Member Statement of Values

The members of the Fort Point Arts Community, Inc. (FPAC) are the base of the organization, and conduct of members reflects on fellow members and on the organization as a whole. In order for FPAC to be able to maintain its core values of promoting arts and culture in the neighborhood, there is an expectation that members will conduct themselves as arts and cultural professionals, and that individual participation in the organization will be within the parameters of this document.

Organization

To support and promote FPAC when interacting with members, perspective members, clients, suppliers, organizations, businesses, elected officials and government representatives.
To establish and maintain a clear communication network within the organization that is based on honesty and integrity.
To offer opportunities for involvement and participation at all levels of the organization.
To encourage high levels of respect within the organization and all segments of the arts and cultural community.
To respect diversity, to embrace inclusivity and to refrain from discriminatory practices.

Members

To maintain high standards of conduct, both personal and professional, that reflect responsibly on FPAC and the arts and cultural community.
To take action, and when possible, to encourage positive growth within the organization (FPAC) and the arts and cultural community.
To refrain from misinformation or derogatory information as it relates to other members, to FPAC, and to business partners within the Fort Point Arts Community.
To establish professional and responsible lines of communication with other members of the Fort Point artists community, in public, in online forums, on social media, and in email and written communications.
To actively participate in growing the arts in Fort Point and the broader Boston arts and cultural ecosystem.
To work considerately and respectfully with all those I come into contact with at FPAC.
To respect diversity, different perspectives and boundaries, and avoid giving offense.
To recognize that the roles of members, volunteers, and staff of FPAC all contribute to a healthy organization, and to understand and respect these roles.
To support and encourage the artistic creativity of those I come into contact with at FPAC.
To refrain from engaging in activities that are detrimental to the well-being of the community and fellow members.

Community

To oppose discriminatory practices within the arts and cultural ecosystem.
To take in consideration the environmental impact of any project and to responsibly use, recycle, and dispose of materials.
To work in a collegial manner with other members of the community.
To consider one’s professional and ethical responsibilities when preparing for and leading teaching/training programs.

Public Interface

To conduct arts, cultural, and business practices in a manner that is both honest and professional.
To refrain from engaging in any form of false or misleading advertising or promotional activities.
To not undertake any professional responsibility without the training and competency to professionally execute the project.
To respect the confidentiality of information obtained in the course of fulfilling one’s professional activities.
To faithfully fulfill all contracts.
To work in a collegial manner with all sections of the public.