image by Michelle McGrath PR
McGRATHPR.com – Scituate Cultural Council (SCC) announces the launch of its fall grant cycle, now open for proposals from community-oriented arts, humanities and science programs. The application deadline is October 15. Organizations, schools and individuals are encouraged to apply for grants that support cultural activities in the community and across the region.
According to Scituate Cultural Council Chairperson Sarah Smith, SCC grants can support a variety of artistic projects and activities on the South Shore — including exhibits, festivals, field trips, short-term artist residencies, or performances in schools, workshops and lectures.
Scituate Cultural Council is part of a network of 329 Local Cultural Councils (LCC) 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. Massachusetts state legislature provides an annual appropriation to Mass Cultural Council, a state agency, which then allocates funds to each community. The state budget appropriated funds this year at $4,154,000 statewide for the LCC program for 2020, an increase of $745,000 compared to last year, increasing the support Scituate Cultural Council can offer grant recipients. Grants 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.
This year, SCC has been allocated about $6,100 in grant funds for distribution. Previously funded projects form a diverse portfolio, and most recently included funding for Satuit Concert Band’s Summer Band Concerts, North River Arts Society’s 43rd Annual Festival of the Arts, Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra’s 2018-2019 concert season and outreach, Mass Audubon South Shore Sanctuaries’ program Your Neighborhood Fireflies, Fuller Craft Museum’s SENSEation Days, Choral Art Society of the South Shore’s 2019 choral concerts, South Shore Art Center’s 64th Annual Arts Festival, Scituate Community of Resources for Special Education (CORSE) Foundation’s music therapy programs for Children with Special Needs, Northeast Storytelling’s South Shore Perspectives storytelling performance, Scituate Art Association’s Arts Exploration school vacation programs, Scituate Town Library’s Drumming at the Library program with All Hands Drumming, Pilgrim Festival Chorus’s 20th Anniversary Choral Season with Scituate High School Select Choir Collaboration, and South Shore Natural Science Center’s Water Watch Lecture Series.
Decisions about which activities to support are made at the community level by a board of municipally appointed volunteers. The current members of Scituate Cultural Council are Danielle Driscoll, George Humphrey, Tracey Kelly, Michelle McGrath, Janice Murphy, Denise Parker, Susan Scavo-Gallagher, Sarah Smith, Elizabeth Tufankjian and Christine Zaremba.
For guidelines and complete information about Scituate Cultural Council, visit scituatema.gov/cultural-council or mass-culture.org/Scituate, email Council Chair Sarah Smith at jssmith01@comcast.net, or follow Scituate Cultural Council on Facebook. Applications and more information about the Local Cultural Council Program are available online at www.mass-culture.org.
About Scituate Cultural Council
The Scituate Cultural Council (SCC) is part of Massachusetts Cultural Council’s (MCC) Local Cultural Council Program – the largest grassroots cultural funding network in the nation. Each year, the MCC distributes funds to the SCC, which grants these funds to local individuals, schools and organizations in support of arts, humanities, and interpretive science projects for the benefit of Scituate residents.
The SCC is comprised of volunteers appointed by the Scituate Selectmen and are responsible for reviewing grant applications and awarding monies. The most-recent grant cycle awarded 13 grants, for projects benefiting the Scituate community featuring a wide range of cultural disciplines.
The SCC partnered with the Town of Scituate, the Scituate Harbor Business Association, and the Scituate Arts Association in spearheading a successful application process to obtain Cultural District designation for Scituate Harbor, and continues to support the Scituate Harbor Cultural District.
For more information, visit scituatema.gov/cultural-council or mass-culture.org/Scituate, email Council Chair Sarah Smith at jssmith01@comcast.net, or follow Scituate Cultural Council on Facebook.
