Stimulus Funds to Benefit Berkshire Arts Organizations
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Olver will formally announce the release of more than $1.3 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to nonprofit arts organizations across Massachusetts. The Rockwell Museum is receiving a $50,000 ARRA grant through the National Endowment for the Arts.
"The arts sector is a vital contributor to the economic life of Western Massachusetts, and a major component of the creative economy statewide," said the Amherst Democrat. "These grants will help preserve jobs in this sector while also ensuring that our arts organizations continue to provide public programs that enrich our communities and educate our young people."
The stimulus funds come from a $50 million ARRA appropriation to the National Endowment for the Arts. ARRA funds are being made available to arts organizations via separate programs administered by the NEA, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the New England Foundation for the Arts. A full list of arts stimulus grants is below.
Among the entities also receiving $50,000 NEA grants are Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation in North Adams, Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School in Adams and Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Becket. Receiving $10,000 MCC Arts Stimulus grants are the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Berkshire Theatre Festival in Stockbridge, Images Cinema in Williamstown and Shakespeare & Company in Lenox. The Colonial Theatre Association in Pittsfield is getting a $4,500 NEFA grant to present The Acting Company of New York City.
Massachusetts cultural nonprofits provide nearly 37,000 jobs and have a total economic impact of over $4.2 billion. But the economic downturn has hurt this dynamic sector: A recent MCC survey of arts organizations that receive state funding found that nearly half have laid off at least one worker since the start of the current recession. Many others are reducing salaries and work hours, and instituting hiring freezes. In the broader nonprofit sector of greater Boston, more than 4 in 10 organizations are reducing staff or salaries, according to a recent report by the Boston Foundation.
Joining Olver will be state Reps. Wiliam "Smitty" Pignatelli of Lenox and Rosemary Sandlin of Agawam, both members of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts, and Cultural Development, along with NEA Director of Dance Douglas Sonntag, MCC Executive Director Anita Walker and Rockwell Museum Chief Executive Officer Laurie Norton Moffatt. Other participants include state Reps. Daniel E. Bosley of North Adams and Christopher Speranzo of Pittsfield, MCC board members Ira Lapidus and Ronald Feldman, both of Williamstown, local cultural council members from Western Mass., and officials from the New England Foundation for the Arts and Berkshire Creative.
"Creative workers are a backbone of the Berkshire County economy and the stimulus funds provided by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and National Endowment for the Arts will help sustain employment and drive economic recovery. We are grateful for Congressman Olver's leadership in recognizing the importance of the creative sector which drives 25 percent of the work force of the Berkshires," said Moffatt, a founder the Berkshire Creative Economy Council.
On March 24, NEA awarded stimulus funds to the MCC allocated by formula, based on a total distribution of $20 million to state arts agencies and regional arts organizations. Also receiving grants were:
NEA Grants
Boston Dance Alliance Inc., Boston — $50,000
Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras Inc., Boston — $50,000
Federated Dorchester Neighborhood Houses Inc. — $25,000
Raw Art Works Inc., Lynn — $50,000
Aspect Inc., Brookline — $25,000
Grub Street Inc., Boston — $25,000
City of Somerville — $25,000
Fitchburg Cultural Alliance Inc. — $25,000
Association of Independents in Radio Inc., Dorchester — $50,000
Center for Independent Documentary Inc., Sharon — $50,000
From the Top Inc., Boston — $50,000
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Inc., Boston — $50,000
Boston Modern Orchestra Project Inc., Malden — $50,000
Emmanuel Music Inc., Boston — $50,000
Handel & Haydn Society, Boston — $50,000
Boston Academy of Music Inc. - Boston - $25,000
Cloud Foundation, Boston — $50,000
Lesley University, Cambridge — $50,000
Massachusetts College of Art, Boston — $25,000
Worcester Center for Crafts Inc., Worcester — $50,000
MCC Arts Stimulus Grants (All grants are $10,000)
Arlington Center for the Arts, Arlington
ArtsBoston Inc., Boston
Bay State Performing Arts, Inc., Boston
Boston Center for the Arts, Inc., Boston
Commonwealth Shakespeare Company Inc., Boston
Community Music School of Springfield
DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln
Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Amherst
Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown
Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton
Lyric Stage Company of Boston Inc., Boston
Medicine Wheel Productions Inc., Boston
Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Lowell
The Nora Theatre Company, Cambridge
Provincetown International Film Festival
South Shore Conservatory, Hingham
Spontaneous Celebrations Inc., Boston
The Springfield Museums
The Theater Offensive, Cambridge
Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill
Underground Railway Theater, Cambridge
Worcester Art Museum
Zeiterion Theatre Inc., New Bedford
Zumix Inc., Boston
New England Foundation for the Arts Grants in Massachusetts:
Performing Artist Fee Support
Lawrence Sons of Italy, Lodge 902, to present Circus Smirkus of Greensboro, Vt. ($2,500)
University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Fine Arts Center, to present Zakir Hussain, San Anselmo, Calif. ($10,000)
Worcester Elementary Arts School to present Patricia Campbell of Newtown, Conn. ($1,301)
Presenter Salary Support
Celebrity Series of Boston ($15,000)
Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion, Boston ($15,000)
New World Theater, Amherst, ($15,000)
