The Arts Company 1987-2018

Founded by Marie Cieri and incorporated in 1987, The Arts Company (ArtsCo) is a non-profit organization based in Cambridge, MA, that has been dedicated to helping contemporary artists create and present new works of high aesthetic and contextual value to diverse audiences in greater Boston, other parts of the US, and sometimes internationally. It does not have its own presentation space, but has frequently formed alliances with other organizations to achieve the best possible support systems for the projects it has undertaken. The Arts Company has been very flexible in the way it has functioned and has designed a structure for each project to balance the needs of the artist(s), the local presenting situation(s), other organizations involved locally and on tour, and the various audiences that have encountered the work.

The organization's orientation has been purposely multi­directional. Projects have been initiated with artists on the basis of quality of ideas and on a perception of their ability to carry them out in a unique and provocative way. Often, the works produced have been interdisciplinary, or, in some way, "off-discipline." The Arts Company has tended to focus on artists who are unaffiliated or who have only small organizations, but have wanted to take on projects that go beyond the usual scope of their work. ArtsCo has tried to tailor its fundraising, administrative, production and/or touring services to the needs of the individual project and artist. A principal goal has been to help artists reach a new level in their work at a critical time in their careers. Another important goal has been to make the newly created work available to a wide range of audiences, not just locally but nationally and internationally as well.

The Arts Company was very active from 1988 through 1996 and again from 2009 through 2016.  In 1998, Director Marie Cieri went off to graduate school at Rutgers University in New Jersey to get a Ph.D. in social geography (2004) and immediately afterwards went to Columbus, OH, as an assistant professor of geography at The Ohio State University. During the time she was away, she continued to oversee ArtsCo's sponsored projects. In 2009, she returned to Cambridge and revved The Arts Company back to full speed with Artists in Context (co-director Louisa McCall) and the Artists' Prospectus for the Nation, among other projects.

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The Arts Company may not be done, but COVID-19 definitely put the organization on hiatus for a bit. So 2022-2023 seemed like a good time to look back, reflect, and create an ArtsCo archive,* which includes this website.

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*The Arts Company is currently looking for an archive or library to take its material archive. If interested, email Marie Cieri at the.arts.company.info@gmail.com