Winchester Cultural District

win cult dist

The WINCHESTER CULTURAL DISTRICT (WCD)

The Massachusetts Cultural Council designated Downtown Winchester as a Cultural District in 2019 in recognition of the concentration and vitality of its artistic and cultural resources within the community, which creates an infrastructure for local arts, humanities, and science organizations’ public programmed events.

Our mission is to:

  • Demonstrate the valuable resource that arts, the sciences, and culture brings to a community
  • Promote cultural programs for all ages and all ethnicities
  • Attract visitors to Winchester as a Cultural District
  • Cultivate the downtown creative economy and strengthen the town’s unique village context

Our vision:  The Winchester Cultural District will include a river walk, the area on the Common and around the renovated train station for public art and cultural installations, events, and festivals beckoning residents from all parts of town.  By promoting the district, the town will also attract visitors from outside the community to enjoy the town center businesses, book store, studios and galleries. Explore a variety of interesting dining options. Shop at the Farmers Market. Attend activities such as church-sponsored concerts, library talks, The Jenks Community Center activities, and Griffin Museum exhibits.   Travelers to the district via the Tri-Community Bike Trail will find bike storage throughout to allow lingering and exploration within the district.

WINCHESTER CULTURAL DISTRICT MANAGING PARTNERSHIP (WCDMP)
The Winchester Cultural District Managing Partnership (WCDMP) was established in April of 2018 as part of the Select Board vote to create a Cultural District in Winchester (WCD) through the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) Guidelines.

In August 2019, the WCDMP completed the requirements, and the MMC established the WCD, defined as a walkable area within the community that creates an infrastructure for local arts’, humanities’ and science organizations’ public programmed events.

The establishment of the WCD transitioned the WCDMP role to the management of the district, to provide an enhanced experience for Winchester residents and visitors, to attract more discretionary spending, and to strengthen the town’s unique village context.

The WCDMP is comprised of volunteer leadership representatives from the cultural community, charged with overseeing district events, marketing, grant applications, and fundraising.  A seven-member core group meets bi-monthly with the full partnership meeting quarterly.  The MCC requires the district’s Managing Partnership to include a representatives from the town government and the Winchester Cultural Council (WCC), cultural organizations incorporated in Massachusetts, two or more artists that live and/or work in the district or an organization that represents artists, a for-profit creative business, local business, and/or chamber of commerce, and may also include representatives of tourism, historic preservation, hospitality, educational institutions, and cultural-religious organizations providing cultural events for the general community.

WCDMP State and Town Government Representatives

  • State Senator Patricia Jehlen
  • State Senator Jason Lewis
  • State Representative Michael Day
  • Select Board Chair Richard Mucci
  • Town Manager Beth Rudolph
  • Planning Board Chair Diab Jerius
  • Town Planner Brian Szekely

WCDMP Core Members

  • Crista Dix
  • Kevin Drum
  • Electra Govoni
  • Joe Govoni
  • Mary McKenna
  • Joyce Westner
  • Barbara Wiedenman
  • Hilda Wong-Doo, Chair

Maps

  1. Cultural Assets District
  2. Cultural Assets Zones

WCDMP Cultural Assets Links: