Woburn Resident Joins Boston Arts Academy Foundation Board

Boston Arts Academy Foundation announced today that Woburn resident Hector Piña, restauranteur, activist and entrepreneur, joined its 20-member board of directors. The Foundation helps support Boston Arts Academy (BAA), the city’s only public high school for the visual and performing arts. Piña 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.

“Hector has made a strong impact on the City of Boston, and his work as an activist for the Latinx community makes him a great fit to support the current generation of artist-scholar-citizens at BAA, and future generations to come,” said BAA Foundation President Denella Clark. “His success as a civic-minded business owner who consistently creates opportunities to help his neighbors aligns with the Foundation’s critical mission.”

Piña has worked in the restaurant industry for more than 25 years and currently owns four restaurants in Boston serving cuisines from throughout the Caribbean – Merengue, Vejigantes, Doña Habana and Cilantro Latin Kitchen. He considers civic engagement to be part of the responsibility of operating community restaurants and has served on the advisory board of Nuestra Comunidad CDC, Project RIGHT and Blue Hill Task Force. He has also participated on the advisory board of events including Jolgorio Navideño, a Latin American gala in Boston that raises funds for Latino-based educational programs; VOTO Latino, a civic organization that promotes community participation in local politics; and We Are Boston, a City of Boston initiative for new Bostonians. He has been recognized with numerous awards for his work as an entrepreneur and community leader.

“I am proud to join the BAA Foundation board to help guide the organization as it fulfils its mission to giving Boston’s artistic youth access to the resources they deserve,” said Piña. “I know firsthand what it takes to live your passion and turn it into a career, and I hope every student at BAA has the opportunity to do the same.”

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.