The Weston Cultural Council is seeking grant applications for projects and programs accessible to broad spectrum of town residents that promote excellence, education, diversity and inclusion in three areas: Arts, Humanities and Interpretive Sciences.
Donor Name: Mass Cultural Council
State: Massachusetts
Town: Weston
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 10/17/2022
Size of the Grant: less than $1000
Details:
2023 Local Priorities
- The Weston Cultural Council is charged with distributing money in the form of grants allotted to the Town of Weston through the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Local Cultural Council (LCC) Program, the largest grassroots cultural funding network in the nation supporting thousands of community-based projects annually. The WCC has collected data from the residents of the Town of Weston to inform its funding priorities for the next few years. Volunteers appointed by the Weston Select Board evaluate and oversee grants for projects and programs accessible to broad spectrum of town residents that promote excellence, education, diversity and inclusion in three areas:
- Arts — including the performing arts (e.g. music, theater, film), visual arts (painting, drawing, sculpture, photography), crafts, folk, design, and interdisciplinary arts.
- Humanities — including history, social studies, philosophy, criticism, and literature.
- Interpretive Sciences — including lectures and activities to engage people in nature, science, and technology in ways that connect to their lives.
- Grants support an enormous range of activities, including community-wide festivals, concerts, and plays; exhibitions and projects by local artists; nature, science, and environmental education programs and participatory activities; video productions; after-school youth programs; workshops in writing and the visual arts; local history and cultural diversity projects; and lectures and book discussions in the humanities.
- Grant applicants are encouraged to work with local institutions such as the Weston Public Library, the Arts and Innovation Center, and the Council on Aging to secure a venue in advance for their program. Programming can be in-person, online, hybrid, or hands-on where appropriate.
Funding Information
- Grant amount: $5,500
- Due to the limited amount of funds available, the majority of grants funded are for less than $1000.
Eligibility Criteria
- Types of grants. A Local Cultural Council may approve grants for a broad range of projects and programs, such as operating support, ticket subsidies, field trips, artist residencies, public art, fellowships, community events/programs, site specific projects, and other activities, based on local priorities. Each Local Cultural Council determines its own local eligibility requirements based on a community engagement process.
- Program eligibility. Applicants may apply for grants for programs that take place during an 18-month window of eligibility from July 1, preceding the application deadline in October, through December 31 of the following year. This means that applicants may apply for projects that have already happened or which happen prior to grant announcements, with the knowledge that funding is not guaranteed. Local Cultural Councils are authorized to establish a smaller window of eligibility; if they do so, they must publish the eligible dates in their council guidelines.
- Applicant eligibility. Applicants must reside or be located in Massachusetts. Local Cultural Councils may accept applications from anyone included in the following list:
- Individuals
- Incorporated private nonprofit organizations
- Unincorporated associations that can establish a nonprofit objective
- Public schools, libraries, other municipal agencies, and the Local Cultural Council itself
- Religious organizations.
Weston Cultural Council Local Guidelines
- They prefer to approve grant projects that have not taken place before the grants have been requested.
- Grants should have a confirmed Weston local venue. Applicants are encouraged to work with local institutions such as the Weston Public Library, the Arts and Innovation Center, and the Council on Aging to secure a venue in advance for their program. Programming can be in-person, online, hybrid, or hands-on where appropriate.
- A letter from the hosting venue is required to accompany the application.
- A well-planned budget and proposal is required to accompany the application.
- Partial funding is frequently offered by the WCC and smaller requests are more likely to be funded in full.
- Funds are not to be used as the sole means of support for projects of a continuing nature. although reapplications for continuing projects are occasionally funded. They encourage groups not to rely on WCC funding on a yearly basis and to develop other sources of funding.
- Funds may not be used for the purchase of food.
- Funds for scholarships are available to applicant organizations or individuals, and must demonstrate community benefit.
- The applicant, or person leading the project/program, should have been engaged in the kind of activity for which funds are requested for at least one year.
- Those who receive grants are required to publicize their program to Weston residents and to acknowledge the Weston Cultural Council in all promotional material.
For more information, visit MCC.
