Richmond Cultural Council Seeking Grant Applications

Print Story | Email Story
RICHMOND, Mass. — The Richmond Cultural Council is seeking grant proposals for community-oriented arts, humanities and science programs including exhibits, festivals, field trips, short-term artist residencies or performances in schools, workshops, and lectures.
 
Application forms for organizations, schools, and individuals applying for grants that support cultural activities will be available online Oct. 1 and are due by Nov. 16.
 
Grant Application forms and more information about the Local Cultural Council Program are available here.
 
Although the online application is strongly suggested, application forms can be downloaded and are also available at the Richmond Town Hall, the Richmond Library and the Richmond Consolidated School.
 
Please be sure to complete and sign each application and answer all the questions on the RCC cover sheet. 
 
Previously funded projects include Scholarships to the Berkshire Children's Chorus, the 2015 Richmond/West Stockbridge Fine Art Show, the Fall Festival of Shakespeare, as well as various field trips and art programs at Richmond Consolidated School.
 
For specific information on the Richmond Cultural Council, contact Cathy Gamberoni at ol4eyes@gmail.com.
 
The Richmond Cultural Council (RCC) 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 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 the community.
 
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Freedom Fund Awards Speakers Highlight Importance of Unity

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff

Keith Beauchamp, producer of two documentaries on Emmet Till, speaks at the Berkshire NAACP Freedom Fund Awards at Berkshire Hills Country Club. 
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — It's not a coincidence that unity is at the end of the word community. This was especially made evident at the Berkshire NAACP Freedom Fund Awards on Saturday. 
 
More than 200 people turned out at the Berkshire Hills Country Club for the presentation of awards and to hear speakers, many of whom showcased the importance of unification and continuing the fight to maintain the freedom and opportunities their predecessors strived to obtain. 
 
"Tonight, I want to speak candidly about a deeply troubling trend that threatens the freedom and opportunities we have fought so hard to achieve — the freedom many in this room have sacrificed for, protested for, and worked tirelessly to protect," Berkshire County Branch NAACP President Dennis Powell said in his opening remarks. 
 
Powell highlighted the recent work that has been done and continues to be done in dismantling programs designed to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion. 
 
On Jan. 20, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order, "Ending Radical And Wasteful Government [Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion] Programs And Preferencing." 
 
The order criticizes the policy implemented by the Biden administration, describing it as wasteful and discriminatory. 
 
Powell demonstrated how some of the corporations that community members frequently visit, including Target, Walmart, Meta, and McDonalds, have scaled back or dismantled their DEI initiatives meant to foster equity and inclusion in their workplace. 
 
View Full Story

More Richmond Stories