Sudbury Cultural Council Announces 2012 Grant Awards

Published January 26, 2012 | Cultural Council | Updated November 21, 2014 | Automatically Archived on 2/2/2012

This Post has been archived and its content might be outdated. If you are looking for recent content, please check this Committee's Homepage.

Board of Selectmen Chairman Larry O’Brien and Sudbury Cultural Council Chairman Ellen Gitelman‘ have announced the award of seven grants totaling $3676 for cultural programs in Sudbury, Framingham, and state-wide. The Sudbury Historical Commission received one of the most important and interesting grants in order to restore several of Florence Hosmer’s paintings. Once Aragon Art of Sudbury returns them to their original vibrancy, they will be hung at the Hosmer House in Sudbury’s town center for all to enjoy.

Additional grant recipients include: the New England Wildflower Society’s “The Nature Zone Family Activity Project;” Richard Clark, who will present his one-man show “Atticus” from To Kill a Mockingbird at the Senior Center; The Marble Collection, a bi-annual print and digital publication featuring art and literature created by students throughout the state; the Sudbury Art Association’s third annual Open Studios; a performance of a Chinese lion dance at the Sudbury Cooperative Preschool that is free and open to the public; and the Sudbury Historical Society’s “Fabric of Our Lives” program, which features four lectures about Sudbury using quilts as a backdrop.

“Once again the Sudbury Cultural Council has thoughtfully selected a diverse array of projects for all ages that will educate and entertain the Sudbury community and beyond,” said Board of Selectmen Chairman Larry O’Brien. “We are especially pleased, of course, that the Cultural Council is able to help preserve one of Sudbury’s most important treasures—the paintings of Miss Florence Hosmer.”

The Sudbury Cultural Council is part of a network of 329 Local Cultural Councils (LCCs) serving all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 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, who include: Ellen Gitelman (chairman), Michele Latimer, Jeanne Maloney (treasurer), Anne Riesenfeld, Susan Rushfirth, and Helen Velie.

Statewide, more than $2.34 million will be distributed by LCCs in 2012. Grants will support an enormous range of grassroots 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.

Applications for projects taking place in 2013 must be submitted by October 15 of next year. Information and forms are available online at www.massculturalcouncil.org. For more information about the Sudbury Cultural Council contact culturalcouncil@sudbury.ma.us.

Categories

Department Page News, Front Page News

— Subscribe to Content Updates

Interested in serving on this committee?
Appointment Application

Established in 1982 as a part of a statewide program to develop cultural programs in local communities, the Sudbury Cultural Council (SCC) supports and promotes community originated projects and activities in the arts, humanities and interpretive sciences to benefit the resident of Sudbury. Members consist of a group of interested residents who are appointed by the Board of Selectman to disperse public funding allocated by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, whose budget is determined annually by the state legislature in July. The state divides this funding to each town in the state using a formula that includes population and economic status, although we are permitted to raise additional funds through donations and events.

We accept grant applications that are due on or about October 15 on an annual basis for cultural projects (including performances, lectures and exhibits), events, and field trips designed to enrich the lives of our community. We encourage grant applications from residents and groups who work with Sudbury based organizations in order to enrich Sudbury life with a variety of cultural activities. Application procedures and grant application forms are available by clicking on the Documents tab.

In 2013, we awarded $3870 in grants to nine different individuals and organizations. The Sudbury Art Association received $1000 to help make their Open Studios an annual event. In another art-related grant, Curtis Middle School art teacher Yael Kupiec-Dar received $930, the second largest grant for her project that involves leading teams of students in creating 2-D pixelated images or 3-D sculpture reproductions of famous art works using Lego blocks. Several of the grants are connected to different aspects of Goodnow Library: Stephen Lewis, who displayed part of his vast collection of international anti-war posters at the library for the month of January, 2013, received $300; the Sudbury Garden Club received $500 to provide landscaping to the Civil War statue that was renovated earlier in 2012; the Solstice Sackbuts, a brass trio performed a free concert of Renaissance music with a $200 grant; and the library itself received $140 for “Welcome to the Spring,” a story and music event for children featuring the original story “Katie’s Acorn” that includes sing-alongs and participatory tales. Other Sudbury institutions receiving grants included: the Haynes PTO received $300 for “George W. Russell, Jr. & Co. – Clap Your Hands,” which demonstrated the changing roles of music in the African-American community; the Sudbury Grange received $200 to screen the film “Praying Town” with the film’s director; and the Sudbury Senior Center received $300 for “Theater of the 30s, 40s and 50s.”

We also work collaboratively with organizations in the community in helping them develop ideas for programs and events. Organizations and individuals are welcome to discuss their thoughts with our members by contacting us at culturalcouncil@sudbury.ma.us or 978-443-4028. Sudbury residents interested in being a member of the committee may also contact us there.

To find out more about the SCC’s activities, like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SudburyCulturalCouncil. We welcome and encourage your support and feedback.