Michael Bobbitt on His New Role as Leader of the Mass Cultural Council

Not quite a year and a half ago, Michael Bobbitt and his husband relocated to the Boston area from Washington, D.C., where Bobbitt had, as his biography at the New Repertory Theatre website notes, "served as Artistic Director for Adventure Theatre-MTC in Maryland since 2007, In that capacity he led the organization to be a respected theatre/training company in the DC region, as well as a nationally influential professional Theatre for Young Audiences."

Bobbitt made the move to become the Artistic Director at the New Repertory Theatre, the professional theater company located in suburban Watertown. He saw his role with the company "as an arts leader, director, choreographer, and playwright," but now fresh horizons beckon once again and Bobbitt prepares to start the next act of his career as the Executive Director of the Mass Cultural Council, leaving his New Rep position.

Bobbitt spoke with EDGE about moving on, the role of the Council in the Commonwealth's arts scene, and how he views leadership in the arts and humanities.

EDGE: You've been tapped to lead the Mass Cultural Council as its Executive Director starting Feb. 1. Is this something you were approached to take on, or had you thrown your hat in the ring when you heard they were looking for someone to take the job?

Michael Bobbitt: The search firm reached out to me. Initially, because of my love of New Rep and because I'd only been there for a short amount of time, I didn't think that it was a good idea to apply. But after looking at the goals of the organization and reading the strategic plan, I thought, "This is a place where I can make a big difference."

EDGE: You've had some deep experience with the arts, having been a longtime leader in the theater scene in the Washington, D.C. area.

Michael Bobbitt: Yeah, and I want to make sure people know my background in the arts goes deeper than just theater. I started my love of the arts in the music world, singing and playing the trumpet; I started dancing at a young age; art was my favorite class, and I remember getting deeper into it in high school. I spent many years pursuing a career as a classical trumpeter and also studying ballet and, in college, creative writing. So, I have a vast and varied exposure to the arts scene.

Theater sort of pulled me in one direction for a while, but it's nice to be able to be back where I can support the whole ecosystem of the arts and not just be entrenched in the theater world.

EDGE: In terms of the arts, what's the extent of what The Mass Cultural Council supports?

Michael Bobbitt: It's anything that is arts and culture-related, and, somewhat, humanities, and a little bit the sciences, as well. There are 26 grant programs in their portfolio, everything from schools for field trips and after-school programs, many, many arts and cultural organizations, universities that have arts and cultural programs, and lots of individual artist grants, as well – so, a massive and large portfolio. Very exciting.

EDGE: The Council is also involved with non-financial issues around diversity and access. What does that mean?

Michael Bobbitt: I think that part of the work they're doing is to try to make sure that funding is equitable and that organizations are considering race equity and accessibility, and learning how to change the way they do their work so that they are more inclusive, diverse, and equitable. Because I'm still not there yet, I don't know how all their initiatives are actualized, and I'm hoping to sort of dig in and find out and have conversations with staff and counsel and constituents to see where else we can improve on those things.

The great thing was that the Council reconfirmed their commitment to diversity and equity back in June, or maybe it was July, and this was a big part of their strategic plan, too – which was very exciting as I was applying for the organization. And then, with my background with about eight years in the race equity field, I feel strongly qualified and capable of seeing things that maybe others don't see. I'm looking forward to working with everyone to have lots of conversations and lots of brainstorming to see how we can advance all of those initiatives.

EDGE: The Council's website says that your new appointment will make you "the most senior cultural official in the Commonwealth" – what might that mean in terms of your day to day work?

Michael Bobbitt: What I'm hoping to do is to use my experience in building relationships to further advance the visibility of the agency across the state. I also really love being away from my desk and building relationships. Most of my work has been built on having deep and meaningful relationships with people, as opposed to just transactions, so I'm looking forward to traveling around the whole state and having many, many conversations with as many constituents as I can to see what the agency needs to be doing and how we can support them.

I certainly also want to do a lot of work in advocating for more visibility, more funding, whatever I can do to support getting more for arts and cultural organizations around the state and individual artists.

: Whenever money is involved, there's going to be a lot of people knowing on your door and a lot of worthy programs to consider. Is that something that gives you any pause, or do you have ideas already about how you might want to prioritize requests?

Michael Bobbitt: I don't. I like listening to people, I like having conversations with people, and already since the announcement I've been hit up with many requests on LinkedIn.

[Laughter]

Michael Bobbitt: The great thing about the way the money is allocated form the Council is that it's all done in a very transparent way. There's an application, there are panels of people that review it and make recommendations, and then those recommendations go through the staff and to the Council. While I get to sort of oversee all of those things, it's not like a private foundation where I can sort of make decisions in a vacuum. I really am part of an ecosystem. And this is taxpayer money, so we have to be transparent and responsible with how money is allocated.

EDGE: Money for the arts is also part of the newest COVID stimulus package. Will the Council be part of how those funds are distributed?

Michael Bobbitt: I know that $10,000,000 from the CARES Act that was sent to the state is being allocated by the Mass Cultural Council. I don't know if we know yet how this new round will be distributed, and who's going to be in charge of distributing it. It might be just be right from the governor and the treasury. But who knows? I think the Council is ready to do what it needs to do to support arts and cultural organizations. I did love seeing, what was it, 15 billion allocated for arts and culture venues around the country.

EDGE: I know some people are not pleased with the arts being given support with COVID relief money, but we can't neglect the spiritual health of our country, which includes the arts.

Michael Bobbitt: In addition to that – that art certainly feeds the soul – most of the way people have gotten through this pandemic is absorbing art: Books, online content, movies – that's all art. If it wasn't for art, who knows where we would be?

But beyond that, the creative industry is, I believe, the reason why the world advances. New discoveries in science and technology and medicine come because of people's ability to imagine the world as different, and that's creativity. If we don't cultivate that in every age, and in every department of society, then we won't continue advancing. There are many great philosophers that believe that the world's problems will be solved through creativity.

Also, we know that the creative industry helps to drive the economy. Last year there was 2.43 billion dollars were put back into the state because of arts and culture. That's a large amount of money. When you go to a venue to see a concert or a show, you might get your nails done, you might get your hair done, you might buy new clothes. You certainly are transporting yourself there through public transportation or a ride share, or getting gas for your car and then parking. Maybe you go to dinner before or have drinks after. There's so much money being poured back into the economy when people absorb arts and culture that we have to reintegrate it, and there are many places around the whole world where governments know that if you invest in the arts and culture, you will see that money come back. So, I think one of the ways we'll recover from COVID is more investment in the arts and culture.

People are going to want to come together when it's safe to come out of our houses. They're going to come together over food and art!

[Laughter]

Michael Bobbitt: We want to be there, we want to be ready. We don't want to be struggling. I think that investment in the arts and culture is really going to help the economy come back.

EDGE: You mentioned how you had just joined New Rep last year, and now you're getting ready to move on again. You must have some regrets about leaving after such a short time.

Michael Bobbitt: Sure. I mean, it's very sad, because when my husband and I moved here from D.C, we were the only family that we had. The New Rep family became my family, especially the staff and the board, and certainly a lot of patrons, and many, many artists. So, to leave them... I should clarify. I'm not necessarily leaving them, I'm redefining the relationship. But, yeah, I had lots of dreams and the company went through a transition and got stable financially, and started really making a strong push in a leadership capacity for race equity, so I'm sad to sort of leave that and leave some projects we were working on.

Also, my first full season that I had planned we had to postpone because of COVID, so those six shows that I wanted to do, I can't actually do them. But I will also say that I've been doing theater since I was a kid, and so the 400 shows that I've done were really gratifying, and it's okay to take a break from being a theater artist and focus on advancing a whole sector.

EDGE: What bit of advice would you give to your successor at New Rep?

Michael Bobbitt: When I think about arts organizations, the personality of the organization can be gleaned from the personality of the leader. It just infuses itself in all aspects of an organization. We defined the culture that we wanted and we made sure that was apparent everywhere: That it was a fun place, that it was a family, that we worked hard, that we bred excellence, that race equity had to be apparent everywhere. So, my advice to any person that assumes the leadership position is: Think about the culture that you want at your organization and do whatever you can to make sure that culture is apparent everywhere, and build policies to support the culture. All your programs should fit into the culture that you want.

The other advice I would give people is that missions need to change when the world needs you to do something different. So, think about what the world needs you to do right now, in this moment. How can you shift your mission and your program to do what the world needs you to do? That's the philosophy I will use as I start my work at the Mass Cultural Council.