State Representative William M. Straus and Kathleen Damaskos, chair of the Mattapoisett Cultural Council, have announced the award of 13 grants totaling $5,600, for cultural programs in and around Mattapoisett.
Grant recipients include Mattapoisett Free Public Library, Friends of Old Rochester Drama, and Old Hammondtown School Robotics Club. 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.
Decisions about which activities to support are made at the community level by a board of municipally-appointed volunteers. The members of the Mattapoisett Cultural Council are Benares Angeley, Anne Bedser, Gary Brown, Carole Clifford, Kathleen Damaskos, Carol Dildine, Annemarie Fredericks, and Marilou Newell.
“Our community is greatly enriched by the LCC program and especially by the artistic and educational contributions made by these grantees, and I want to thank all of the volunteers who serve on the Council for their efforts over the past year,” said Representative Straus.
Statewide, more than $3 million will be distributed by local cultural councils in 2018. Grants will support an enormous range of grass-roots activities: 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 grants include:
Friends of Old Rochester Drama: $400
Steve Henderson: $300
Mattapoisett Free Public Library: $560
Mattapoisett Historical Society: $700
Mattapoisett PTA (2): $740
New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center: $150
New Bedford Symphony Orchestra: $500
Old Colony RVTHS Drama Club: $300
Old Hammondtown School Robotics Club: $600
South Coast Children’s Chorus: $650
Tri-County Symphonic Band: $200
Kirk Whipple & Marilyn Morales: $500
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.