New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
Mayor Jon Mitchell and Lynne LaBerge, Chair of the New Bedford Cultural Council, have announced the award of 50 grants totaling $65,794 to support programs in New Bedford that promote education, diversity, and excellence in the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences. The grants were awarded from a pool of funds distributed to the City by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency that supports public programs and educational activities in the arts, sciences and humanities.
Grant recipients include ArtWorks!, New Bedford Open Studios, Cape Verdean Recognition Parade, New Bedford Historical Society, and New Bedford Festival Theatre just to name a few. A complete list of recipients can be found below.
The New Bedford Cultural Council is part of a grass-roots network of 329 local councils that serve every city and town in the state. The program is the largest, most decentralized one of its kind in the United States. The state legislature provides an annual appropriation to the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which then allocates funds to each local council. Decisions about which activities to support are made at the community level by a board of municipally appointed volunteers.
The 2012 volunteer members of the New Bedford Cultural Council are: Sam Ackah, Lee Blake, Shelley Cardoos, David Goncalves, Isaiah Houtman, Lynne LaBerge, Valentina Martinez, Linda Mello, and Elizabeth Pryor
“It’s the local volunteers who really make this system work,” said Mayor Mitchell. “They make limited resources go as far as possible, and they make the tough decisions about which projects should be supported. Thanks to them, the arts, sciences and humanities are part of people’s everyday lives in every community across the state.”
Statewide, more than $2.8 million was distributed by local cultural councils in 2012. Grants support an enormous range of grass-roots activities: concerts, field trips for schoolchildren, after-school youth programs, historical preservation efforts, nature and science education programs for families, and city festivals. Nearly half of LCC funds support educational activities for young people. This includes the PASS Program, which provides subsidies for school-age children to attend cultural field trips.
The New Bedford Cultural Council will seek applications again in the fall. Information and forms can be found at www.massculturalcouncil.org and will be obtainable atthe New Bedford Free Public Library and arts and cultural outlets throughout the city in September 2012. Application deadline is October 15, 2012.
2012 Grantees:
- 3rd Eye Youth Empowerment
- AHA!
- New Bedford Summerfest
- Alfred J. Gomes School
- Art Therapy Inspirational Art for Seniors, Inc.
- Artworks! Partners for the Arts and Community
- Cape Verdean Recognition Committee
- Casmir Pulaski School
- City of New Bedford Department of Community Services
- Community Economic Development Center
- Congdon Elementary School
- Culture Park
- Dennison Memorial Community Center
- Ellen R. Hathaway Elementary School
- Fellowship Health Resources, Inc.
- Friends of New Bedford Free Public Library
- Global Learning Charter School
- Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School
- GreenFleet
- Horatio A. Kempton Elementary School
- John Hannigan School
- Keith Middle School
- Youth Circus Workshop by Teresa Kochis
- Martha Briggs Educational Club
- New Bedford Ballet
- New Bedford Festival Theatre
- New Bedford Free Public Library
- New Bedford High School Band Boosters
- New Bedford Historical Society
- New Bedford Open Studios
- New Bedford Preservation Society
- New Bedford Public Schools Fine Arts Department
- New Bedford Symphony Orchestra Young Peoples’ Concert
- Our Sisters’ School
- PSILL Friends of SMEC
- Rodman School
- S.E. MA Veterans Housing Program, Inc
- Saint James-Saint John School
- South Coast Chamber Music Society
- South Coast Childrens Theatre, Inc.
- South End Business Association, Inc. Hazelwood Park Summer Fair
- Southeastern Massachusetts Educational Collaborative (SMEC)
- Sunshine’s Place, Inc.
- Your Theatre, Inc.
- YWCA of Southeastern Massachusetts
