Worcester Arts Council Announces

New Grants Awarded for 2018

Worcester, MA- City Manager Edward M. Augustus, Jr. and Samantha Fiakofi, chair of the Worcester Arts Council (WAC), have announced the award of 48 grants totaling $114,375 for cultural programs in Worcester.

The Worcester Arts 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 Mass Cultural Council, a state agency, which then allocates a portion of these funds to each community including Worcester.

It is through programs like these that give access and assistance to Worcester’s creative community. This year WAC is announcing the recipients of funding for the 2018 grant cycle. Through an in depth selection process, WAC’s volunteer members reviewed numerous applications this fall during a series of meetings conducted to evaluate the overall quality of the proposed programs, their public benefit, viability and whether they met the 2018 local priorities for funding  which  included : Public Art, Children’s Programing, and Visual Arts.

This year WAC will award a total of $114,375 to 48 Worcester area applicants. The 2018 allocation also includes two $5,000 Artist Fellowships, awarded to individuals to assist in the funding of their endeavors in the arts, humanities and interpretative sciences. This year the Worcester Arts Council is proud to award Artist Fellowships to two local artists: James Dye and Jennifer Carey.

Samantha Fiakofi, Chair of the Worcester Arts Council said, “We are excited to announce our 2018 grant recipients. Each year we are impressed by the creativity and innovation WAC grant recipients bring to Worcester’s cultural community. This year’s projects will attract diverse audiences and hopefully inspire new projects throughout the city.”

Decisions about which activities to support are made at the community level by a board of municipally appointed volunteers. The members of the Worcester Arts Council are: Samantha Fiakofi (Chair), Meghan Hardy-Lavoie (Vice-Chair), Jacob Poplaski (Treasurer), Amanda Schall (Secretary), Thomas Conroy, Jose Castillo, Hansani Archibald, Hank Von Hellion.

City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. said, “I congratulate all the recipients who continue to enhance the creative vitality of our community. I also thank the Worcester Arts Council for its diligence in reviewing so many worthy submissions.”

Statewide, more than $3.3 million will be distributed by local cultural councils in 2018. Grants will support an enormous range of grass-roots activities: concerts, exhibitions, radio and video productions, field trips for schoolchildren, after-school youth programs, writing workshops, historical preservation efforts, lectures, First Night celebrations, nature and science education programs for families and town festivals. Nearly half of LCC funds support educational activities for young people.

The Worcester Art Council will seek applications again in the fall. For guidelines and complete information on the Worcester Art Council, please contact Lindiana Semidei, Staff Liaison to the Worcester Arts Council at 508-799-1400 x 31414 or by email at SemideiL@Worcesterma.gov. Applications and more information about the Local Cultural Council Program are available online at www.mass-culture.org.  Applications are due in October of 2019.

This year’s grants include:

About the Worcester Arts Council:

The Worcester Arts Council is a municipal body consisting of nine members appointed by the City Manager. The Council is charged with promoting the cultural affairs of the City of Worcester and allocating funds received by the Council for cultural projects and programs. The mission of the Worcester Arts Council is to promote excellence, access, education and diversity in the arts, humanities and interpretative sciences to improve the quality of life for Worcester residents and contribute to the economic vitality of our City. The Worcester Arts Council is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. Additional information about the Worcester Arts Council can be found by visiting: http://www.worcesterma.gov/cultural-development/grants

About the Massachusetts Cultural Council:

The Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) is a state agency that promotes excellence, access, education, and diversity in the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences to improve the quality of life for all Massachusetts residents and contribute to the economic vitality of our communities. The Council pursues this mission through a combination of grant programs, partnerships, and services for nonprofit cultural organizations, schools, communities, and artists. For more information visit: http://www.massculturalcouncil.org