Dorchester’s arts and cultural scene could get a boost as city officials and local activists work to designate parts of the neighborhood as a “cultural district.” State lawmakers signed off on legislation authorizing “cultural districts” in 2010, and the Fenway area appears to be first in line to receive the designation. Dorchester activists hope their neighborhood will be next.

The Massachusetts Cultural Council, which is overseeing the designation process, defines a cultural district as a walkable area with a concentration of cultural facilities within its boundaries.

The Fenway cultural district ranges from the Hynes Convention Center down to the Longwood medical area, and includes the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, the Berklee College of Music, and the Mary Baker Eddy Library, among others.

The aim of the designation is to attract artists, encourage development, draw tourists, preserve historic buildings, and add to local property values.

In addition to Dorchester, Boston neighborhoods eyeing the designation include Jamaica Plain, Fort Point, and Roxbury.

Joyce Linehan, a Dorchester native who heads a public relations firm with a number of arts-related clients, said Dorchester’s large size, as opposed to the compactness of the Fenway area, may be an issue. “I think it can be done, we just have a geographic challenge,” said Linehan, whose clients have included Opera Boston, the Boston Conservatory, and the Boston Book Festival. Lower Mills is one area that comes to mind as a potential area for a Dorchester cultural district, given its artist-focused housing in the former Baker chocolate factory, she noted.

City Councillor At-Large Ayanna Pressley, an Ashmont resident, is among the local elected officials pushing for the cultural district designation. “I believe that all of our neighborhoods are teeming with a diversity of arts and cultural options,” she said. “This is an opportunity to highlight that.”

Pressley, vice chair of the City Council’s Arts and Tourism Committee, said the process will be community-driven and steered by a working committee.

She will be working with City Councillor Frank Baker, who in his first term was appointed chair of the council’s arts committee.

“It’s all about bringing people into the neighborhood to showcase what we have,” Baker said.
States that have cultural districts include Rhode Island, Maryland, and New Mexico. In Pittsburgh, the district spans 14 blocks, seven theaters, a dozen art galleries and pulls in two million people annually, according to its website.