New arts space survey data was published by the City of Somerville this week (Arts Space Needs Assessment Survey, OpenData, July 2026). One finding stood out to us, and we wanted to share it.

What This Year’s Survey Shows

The survey asked artists across disciplines whether their space needs are currently being met. Among Dance, Theatre & Performance respondents who use space frequently, the results stand out:

Discipline (frequent users)	Completely Met	Somewhat Met	Not at all Met
Dance, Theatre & Performance	15%	85%	0%
Music	17%	83%	0%
Multidisciplinary & Other	15%	77%	8%
Visual Art & Design	29%	59%	12%

100% of Dance, Theatre & Performance respondents who use space frequently report their needs are at least somewhat met, with zero reporting their needs are not met at all. Music shares that same 0% “not at all met” result — the two disciplines are the strongest performers in the survey on this measure.

It’s a strong finding on its own. SomArt, which has offered Somerville’s dance and performance community dedicated rehearsal space for several years, may be part of what’s contributing to that outcome for dance and performance artists specifically — though the survey wasn’t designed to isolate SomArt’s specific effect. An earlier regional study (the 2018 Boston Performing Arts Facilities Assessment, TDC/BPDA) documented rehearsal space as a particularly acute need across Greater Boston.

What we can say is this: Somerville’s dance and performance artists are reporting space needs that are being met as well as any other discipline surveyed, and SomArt exists to serve exactly that population.

What Artists Say

“Thank you for offering the SomArt spaces at the hive and armory – they are exceptional and allow lots of flexibility to get studio work done esp in daytime hours. It’s so crucial to my practice to know I will likely be able to hold rehearsal in one of these spaces.”

— Individual dance artist, frequent user

“Right now we are using the SomArt Space… For every other space in the Somerville area, our barriers have been cost and availability.” (paired with, on cost:) “Since we are grant-funded, we need costs to be low. At the moment, SomArt rates are the best in the area!”

— Dance collective, frequent user

Why This Matters

Public investment in arts infrastructure works best when it’s evaluated honestly against real data over time. We’ll continue to share findings like this as new data becomes available — both to be transparent about what’s working and to keep identifying where gaps remain.

Sources: City of Somerville Arts Space Needs Assessment Survey (OpenData, July 2026); Boston Performing Arts Facilities Assessment, TDC/BPDA (2018).