Matt Hanna, the voice behind “Little Local Conversations” podcast, spoke with Michael Bobbitt, the executive director of the Mass Cultural Council; led an arts and culture roundtable; and the administrator of Historic New England which overseas the Browne House.
In “Little Local Conversations,” discover the people, places, stories, and ideas of Watertown. Hanna has conversations with various businesses owners, community leaders, creatives, and other interesting folks in Watertown to learn about what they do and get to know a bit about the people behind the work.
Episode 64: Michael Bobbitt (Mass Cultural Council)
Meet Michael Bobbitt! He’s a Watertown resident and the Executive Director of the Mass Cultural Council along with being a distinguished theater artist in many ways himselfIn this conversation we talk about how art saved him in his early years, his early successes from being the “best Hansel” to touring nationally to perform, his time in children’s theater and building Adventure Theatre in the DC area from 15,000 patrons to 100,000 patrons, co-writing musicals with Bob Marley and Jim Davis, and eventually making his way to New Repertory Theater in Watertown and his current role at the Mass Cultural Council.
We dig into topics such as the challenges of arts advocacy in Massachusetts, how and why the arts sector needs to change its beliefs, values and behavior, possible policy changes such as STEM to STEAM, how the arts in Massachusetts are saving healthcare money with the first in the nation arts prescribing program, his thoughts on Watertown arts, how the MCC has redesigned their grant programs to make them more accessible for all artists, and what’s the day-to-day like for an executive director while also juggling his personal artistic projects.
Listen to the episode by clicking here.
Watertown Arts & Culture Roundtable, September 2025
Listen to the latest Little Local Conversations arts and culture roundtable episode where we talk about things that have been going on in Watertown arts and culture recently, what’s coming up, hidden gems, and more. The discussion was with Liz Helfer (City of Watertown, Public Arts and Culture Planner), Kristen Kenny (Chair of the Watertown Cultural District), and Jamie Kallestad (Communications and Design Specialist for the Watertown Free Public Library).
Listen to the Arts and Culture Roundtable here.
Episode 63: Barbara Callahan (Browne House/Historic New England)
Meet Barbara Callahan! She’s the Metro Boston Regional Site Administrator for Historic New England which includes overseeing the oldest house in Watertown, the Browne House on Main Street. In this conversation we talk about Barbara’s own journey in managing historical houses in the area, then we dive into some of the history of the Browne family and its earliest history, and the reconstruction of the house in the early 1900s as the first well-documented restoration project in America. Barbara takes me on an audio tour of the 3 floors of the historical house and the very unique barn outside.
Listen to the episode by clicking here.