State Representative William M. Straus, Selectman Jordan C. Collyer, and Kathleen Damaskos, Chair of the Mattapoisett Cultural Council, have announced the award of 21 grants totaling $10,000, for cultural programs in and around Mattapoisett.
Grant recipients include Mattapoisett Free Public Library, Friends of Old Rochester Drama, and Mattapoisett Recreation. A complete list of recipients and grant amounts can be found below.
The Mattapoisett Cultural Council is part of a network of 329 Local Cultural Councils serving all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth. The LCC Program is the largest grassroots cultural funding network in the nation, supporting thousands of community-based projects in the arts, sciences, and humanities every year. The state legislature provides an annual appropriation to the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, which then allocates funds to each community.
In 2020, Mattapoisett Cultural Council is once again receiving town financial support to supplement the state allocation and thus able to approve even more worthy grants. These additional town funds were instrumental in the council’s ability to award nearly double the amount for supporting local artists and institutions, the largest amount ever.
Decisions about which activities to support are made at the community level by Gary Brown, Carole Clifford, Kathleen Damaskos, Carol Dildine, Michael Eaton, Annemarie Fredericks, Gale Schultz, Sarah Thomas, and Donna Wingate.
“The Local Cultural Council Program is the most extensive funding system of its kind in the nation. The councils support community-based projects that explore local arts and history, expand education and accessibility and celebrate diversity. These grant monies make possible for children and adults to empower themselves to learn about local arts, history, theatre and much more,” said Rep. Bill Straus.
“State and town cultural funding enables the local council to meet the particular needs and priorities of the Mattapoisett community. Congratulations to the artist and organization grantees who best demonstrated the value of their activities and programs in the arts, humanities, and science,” said Selectman Jordan C. Collyer.
Statewide, more than $4 million will be distributed by local cultural councils in 2020. Grants will support an enormous range of grass-roots activities in the arts, science, and humanities: school field trips, afterschool programs, concerts, festivals, lectures, theater, dance, music, and film. LCC projects take place in schools, community centers, libraries, elder care facilities, town halls, parks, and wherever communities come together.
This year’s Mattapoisett Cultural Council grantees include:
Buzzards Bay Coalition Outdoor Explorations
Cape Cod Community Media Center
Friends of Old Rochester Drama
Irish Traditional Music Sessions
Mattapoisett Free Public Library
Mattapoisett Land Trust Education Committee
Mattapoisett Museum
Mattapoisett PTA
Mattapoisett Recreation Seahorse Explorers
New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center
New Bedford Symphony Orchestra
ORRJHS Trout in the Classroom
ORRHS Empty Bowls Project
Seaglass Theatre Company
Shakespeare in New Bedford
Sippican Choral Society
South Coast Children’s Chorus
South Coast Diamondback Terrapin Project
Tri-County Symphonic Band
Kirk Whipple and Marilyn Morales
The Mattapoisett Cultural Council will seek applications again in the fall. Information and forms will be available online at www.masscultural council.org. Applications will be due in mid-October.