Mission: CAM was established as a non-profit organization in 2015 to support artists, expand cultural opportunities, and nurture the creative community.
Central to our mission, CAM has secured a 99-year lease on two iconic buildings at the former Medfield State Hospital, and is leading a multi-year, $18.5 million capital campaign to create a home for musicians, storytellers, poets and makers of all kinds to lead us in forging connections and transcending boundaries. The flexible, multi-use 300-seat performance venue with 17 classrooms and an outdoor stage will create, activate, and preserve space for artists to entertain, educate, engage, and enrich.
Results: CAM implements community programs and placemaking projects that energize widespread support, collaboration, and engagement:
• CAM led the development and restoration of Medfield 5,300 square foot Straw Hat Park, a sustainable neighborhood pocket park in the town center.
• CAM’s annual Holiday Stroll showcases 40 local artists, live music, local food-truck businesses and more, with attendance over 2,000 in 5 hours.
• Winter Lights, created in partnership with Medfield TV, is a ¾ mile drive-thru light display on the MSH grounds. In the inaugural 2020 year, the three-night event attracted 1,770 carloads of visitors.
• A COVID-19 mask-making effort galvanized 104 makers creating over 7,300 PPE items delivered to 165 beneficiaries (health care facilities, public safety groups, homeless shelters, and food pantries) in 7 states.
• CAM’s placemaking projects on the MSH grounds include a community-supported garden bed of 400 sunflowers, a 6,500-bulb daffodil garden, and a campus-wide “Poetry Project” art installation, and "Thistles" a temporary public art project activating the 11-acre Great Lawn.
• Outdoor performances include an MSH site-specific original play and the 2020 Drive-By PorchFest, a celebration of live music featuring musicians performing at 27 sites throughout Medfield.
The Cultural Alliance of Medfield not only has a fantastic strategic vision for arts and cultural opportunities in Medfield, but it also exercises a can-do, roll-your-sleeves up mindset to make initiatives happen. Initiatives include securing a town arts funding match to double state dollars, obtaining a 99-year lease from the state for the Medfield State Hospital sites targeted for arts programming, and creating the new Straw Hat Park as a place to relax in the center of town. None of these projects (and more) would have happened without The Cultural Alliance of Medfield. It should be noted that the Alliance works especially hard at pulling together like-minded residents and area organizations, to collaborate on events and other initiatives, including the recent one at the Medfield State Hospital site.
The Cultural Alliance of Medfield has become a valuable resource for the Town since the organization was formed in 2015. Their calendar has become a go-to website for learning about upcoming fun local activities. CAM undertakes sublime activities that make Medfield a more culturally robust community.
