Waltham Awards Nearly $28K in Grants for Local Cultural Programs

WALTHAM, MA – Waltham Mayor Jeanette McCarthy and chair of the Waltham Cultural Council Consuelo Valdes on Friday announced more than $25,000 in grants this year for local cultural programs.

The city will award 40 grants totaling $27,825 to organizations ranging from the African Cultural Services to the Waltham Philharmonic Orchestra. The Waltham Cultural Council, through which the funding is awarded, is part of a network of 329 Local Cultural Councils (LCC) serving all 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts.

LCC is the largest grassroots cultural funding network in the nation, supporting thousands of arts, sciences and humanities projects each year, according to a release. Funding comes from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency that appropriates funding to each community.

Decisions about which programs to support are then made at the municipal level by a board of appointed volunteers. In Waltham, the council is comprised of Valdes, Brad Pielech, Scott Shurr, Melinda Hallisey, Jim Ohm and Yiru Cociani.

"I want to thank the volunteer members for their dedication to culture and the arts," Mayor McCarthy said in a statement.

Waltham's grant recipients are below:

• Adam Sickler $1,500
• African Cultural Services Inc.$1,175
• Boston Jazz Voices $250
• Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation $350
• Charles River Museum of Industry & Innovation $800
• Chesterbrook Community Foundation Inc $1,500
• deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum $400
• Downtown Waltham Partnership $1,500
• Downtown Waltham Partnership $500
• Downtown Waltham Partnership, Inc. $1,825
• English At Large $250
• FitzGerald PTO $400
• Gore Place $225
• Ingrid Schorr $400
• Isaac Fuhrman$300
• John F. Kennedy Middle School Parent-Teacher Organization $800
• Lappen, Henry$200
• Lucy Clerkin $500
• Mark Chester Diversity Project and MIRA Coalition, a 501(c)3 $200
• Meadowscaping for Biodiversity $200
• Metalwerx $200
• More Than Words $1,175
• New Repertory Theatre, Inc. $250
• Northeast Elementary PTO $500
• Northeast Elementary PTO $750
• Plympton School Multicultural Committee $500
• Powers Music School $300
• Robert Treat Paine Historical Trust $325
• Roslynn Rubin, Ed.D $950
• Senecal, Doug "Danger" $200
• The Discovery Museums $175
• Waltham American Legion Band $425
• Waltham Arts Council $1,500
• Waltham Farmers' Market $650
• Waltham Fields Community Farm $850
• Waltham Land Trust $600
• Waltham Mills Artists Assoc./Artists West Assoc., Inc. $1,600
• Waltham Philharmonic Orchestra $1,200
• Waltham Public Library $1,200
• WALTHAM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA $1,200

Statewide, more than $3.3 million will be doled out by local cultural councils in 2017. The Waltham Cultural Council will again accept applications from Sept. 1 to Oct. 16.

For local guidelines and complete information on the Waltham Cultural Council, contact Consuelo Valdes at walthamculturalcouncil@gmail.com or (781) 530-4897. Application forms and more information about the Local Cultural Council Program are available online at www.mass-culture.org.

Photo courtesy of Bill Damon via Flickr