Newton Resident Joins Boston Arts Academy Foundation Board

Boston Arts Academy Foundation announced today that Newton resident Tony James, Senior Vice President of Network Development and Integration at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), joined its 20-member board of directors. James is a longstanding supporter of Boston Arts Academy (BAA), the city’s only public high school for the visual and performing arts, and currently serves as co-chair of BAA Foundation’s Advisory Council. He will play an integral role in the Building Our Future campaign, a five-year effort to raise $30 million to augment the school’s budget and build long term sustainability.

“Having previously served as a school Trustee, Tony has seen firsthand the impact BAA can have, and his work with the Foundation will help ensure a brighter future for thousands of young student-artists,” said BAA Foundation President Denella Clark. “He is an expert at building bridges in the healthcare industry, and we welcome his ability to foster the same kind of collaboration as we unite the community to further BAA’s mission.”

James founded MGH’s Network Development department and leads a team that develops new relationships, and expands upon existing ones, between MGH and physician groups, hospitals and healthcare systems. His team also works to integrate hospitals that join the MGH family. In addition to serving as co-chair of the BAA Advisory Council, he is also a member of the boards of Cooley Dickinson Hospital, Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, Wentworth Douglass Hospital and Neighborhood Health Plans.

“I was introduced to BAA more than 15 years ago and remain awed by its power as a force for positive change,” said James. “As the opening of the school’s newly constructed campus nears, I’m committed to making BAA’s next chapter even more exceptional than the last.”

About Boston Arts Academy Foundation

Established in 1999, the BAA Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit organization that raises essential funds from private philanthropic sources to augment the BAA school budget. The BAA Foundation helps bridge the gap between the school’s allocation from the Boston Public Schools, and the true cost of a high-quality education that is both arts-intensive and college preparatory.

Construction of the new BAA school building will not change BPS’s funding formula, which supports BAA’s academic offerings. Through the five-year, comprehensive Building Our Future campaign, the BAA Foundation is raising $30 million to augment BAA’s school budget and ensure long-term sustainability. The campaign includes raising $10 million to bring the BAA Foundation endowment to $13.5 million, and to secure $15.5 million in operating reserves. The endowment and reserves will support what makes BAA unique, including expanded programming, the Health and Wellness Program, STEAM (STEM+Art), and funding for the arts. The endowment also will support college scholarships for graduating seniors. The campaign will support BAA Foundation’s Annual Fund, which raises $5,000 per student each year. Building Our Future will ensure that as BAA’s student body grows, students can become successful artists, scholars and citizens.

About Boston Arts Academy

Founded in 1998 as the city’s only public high school for the visual and performing arts, Boston Arts Academy has distinguished itself among urban public high schools as a leader in innovative and effective student-centered education. Consistently recognized locally and nationally for its achievements, BAA exemplifies the power of an arts-rich education and many BAA graduates have found success in college through the arts. In fact, for the past five years, at least 97 percent of BAA graduates have been accepted to college, with most being first-generation college attendees. BAA’s dynamic program prepares graduates to be critical thinkers, effective communicators, collaborators and creators. Students come from all 23 Boston neighborhoods to receive the formal arts training and academic instruction that will make them Boston’s next generation of artists and cultural leaders.

In October 2018, the BAA community broke ground on a new $125 million facility at its Fenway location, which will expand from 121,000 square feet to 153,500 square feet upon its completion in September 2021. Among many highlights, it will include new and much-needed enhanced theatres, career center, academic classrooms, dance studios, music practice rooms and fashion technology studios and workspace. When BAA opens its new school building, the number of students enrolled will increase to 500, and eventually grow over the years.