Power of Culture Blog
$3.57M Awarded through Gaming Mitigation Fund
More new organizations and a broader range of presenting models to be funded than in previous cycles
Mass Cultural Council Staff
Each month Mass Cultural Council shares a round-up of grants, trainings, technical assistance resources, and opportunities for creative and cultural organizations (a companion to our Useful Links page). This list is not meant to be exhaustive but a glimpse of what is on offer in the coming weeks. (We also publish a weekly Artist Opportunities listing.)
Upcoming Mass Cultural Council grant opportunities:
Mass Humanities’ Reading Frederick Douglass Together program provides $2,000 grants to local communities to host a public reading of Douglass’ noted speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Monthly deadlines through June 2025.
The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources’ Green Communities Division is offering the following grant programs for municipalities:
The Boston Foundation is launching a $2 million special round of Safety Net Grants to be awarded this spring, providing general operating support for Greater Boston social service organizations that respond to the essential needs of marginalized communities and vulnerable residents. The new grants are open to all organizations meeting essential needs, with several priority areas including: Combating hate and discrimination; Food, fuel, and shelter; Legal aid; and Poverty alleviation. Grants are expected to be one-year grants of $25,000 to $75,000. Deadline: Mar. 11, 2025.
The 2025 Chelsea Heritage Celebrations Grant offers up to $15,000 for projects based in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Established by the City of Chelsea and the Chelsea Cultural Council and funded by Encore Boston Harbor to support a broad range of cultural events and installations that promote the community’s heritage, quality of life, recreation, and cultural activities. Deadline: Mar. 14, 2025.
The Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund, a matching grant program that supports the preservation of properties, landscapes, and sites listed in the State Register of Historic Places, is accepting applications through Mar. 15, 2025. Applicants must be a municipality or nonprofit organization. Downlaod the application and instructions and watch an informational video about the program.
With T-Mobile’s Hometown Grant program up to 100 small towns receive placemaking project funding of up to $50,000 each. Deadline: Mar. 31, 2025.
The Skatepark Project helps underserved communities throughout the United States create safe and inclusive public skateparks for youth. The Skatepark/Skatespace Grant of up to $25,000 is available to nonprofit organizations and municipalities. Deadline: Mar. 31, 2025.
Women’s Fund SouthCoast is launching their 2025 Grantmaking programs on Mar. 10, 2025 and are offering webinars in advance on Mar. 5 and Mar. 7. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis through Apr. 11, 2025.
The American Psychological Foundation’s Direct Action Visionary Grants seek to fund innovative interventions, based on psychological knowledge, that directly address pressing needs of communities. They are particularly interested in supporting communities and populations dealing with prejudice, bias, intolerance, and all forms of bigotry including racism, antisemitism, homophobia, and misogyny. Grants are up to $60,000. Deadline: Apr. 30, 2025.
Essex County Community Foundation’s Creative County Initiative provides Special Project funding in the range of $2,000-$5,000. Funding is available for a uniquely innovative aspect of an overall program within these general categories: Advancement of cultural planning; Diversity, equity, inclusion, and access; Public art or creative placemaking; Arts leadership; or Organizational capacity building. Cycle 1 runs Jan. – Mar. Cycle 2 runs Apr. – Jun.
The South Carolina Arts Commission in partnership with Able South Carolina is hosting Getting Creative: An Overview of 3 Discipline-Specific Ways to Provide Accessibility, a webinar on tools for accessibility that’ll leave with you with the know-how to get started in our own programs and the resources to grow. Registration is required and it takes place on Mar. 5, 2025 at 3pm.
MASSCreative is hosting a Create the Vote 2025: Open House on Mar. 6, 2025 at 12pm to share information about this year’s programmatic focus on municipal elections. Do you live in a community with a municipal election this year? If the answer is yes, then they want to partner with you.
Join Mass Cultural Council’s next Spotlight Series webinar featuring the Mass Office of Travel & Tourism. They’ll provide an update on Massachusetts 250 – their campaign celebrating the state’s Revolutionary War history through 2026 – and the associated programs, events, and services for all who are interested in taking part of the commemorative activities. Mar. 6, 2025 at 12:30pm.
Join Main Street America for a webinar exploring the Main Street Disaster and Resiliency Toolkit. Mar. 6, 2025 at 1pm.
The Access/VSA International Network is hosting Making Inclusive Museums Now, a webinar exploring the MIXmuseum Toolkit, an outcome of the MIXmuseum initiative. This set of design recommendations can transform galleries and key public spaces that shape the visitor’s experience—reception, lobby/atrium, circulation, and restrooms—into physically and socially accessible spaces that allow people of different ages, genders, races, religions, and abilities to mix. FREE for members; $15 for non-members. Mar. 18, 2025 at 2pm.
Register for Mass Cultural Council’s virtual briefing on the soon-to-be-released 2024 Massachusetts Cultural Asset Inventory. The Agency will present the findings and discuss how we can use this new data set, developed with Diversity North Group, to advance the Commonwealth’s cultural sector. Mar. 21, 2025 at 12pm.
The Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network organizes seminars, trainings, and events throughout the year.
Take Nonprofit Finance Fund’s 2025 State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey by Mar. 7, 2025. There has never been a more critical time to share what’s going on for nonprofits and how we all can support the organizations that play an essential role in our communities.
Want to spend a morning talking with passionate students about their favorite topics in history? Come judge for National History Day in Massachusetts, an inter-disciplinary research project for students in grades 6-12 that encourages exploration of local, state, national, and world history. Sponsored by the Massachusetts Historical Society. Regional competitions are on Mar. 8, 2025 in Stoneham and Leicester, and Mar. 16, 2025 in Foxborough. Learn more about judging for NHD.
Western Arts Alliance is accepting proposals for their 2025 Western Arts Alliance Conference for artists, agents, and presenters in Los Angeles. They are inviting dynamic ideas for Professional Development Sessions, aiming to bring fresh perspectives, innovative ideas, and impactful discussions that inspire and empower their community. Deadline: Mar. 14, 2025 at 5pm (PT).
The City of Boston has posted a Request for Proposals: Affordable Non-profit Space, an opportunity for a nonprofit organization to lease and activate a 4,750-square-foot, first-floor space at 5 Necco Street in the Fort Point Channel neighborhood for $10/year. Proposals are due Mar. 31, 2025.
As part of the “Making Space for Art: Securing Cultural Infrastructure” regional project from the cities of Cambridge, Boston and Somerville, together with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, the City of Cambridge has released a Cultural Spaces Survey.
The City of Boston has also posted a Request for Information – Space for Creative Enterprise in Downtown and is looking for ideas to transform vacant spaces in Downtown Boston into vibrant hubs for creative enterprises. Creatives, entrepreneurs, and cultural space operators are invited to submit proposals that will help revitalize the neighborhood, support economic growth, and create dynamic community spaces. Deadline: Apr. 18, 2025.
Last Fall, the National Endowment for the Arts released Arts Attendance, Art-Making, and Social Connectedness: Spring/Summer 2024, a research brief that examines recent patterns of arts engagement among U.S. adults, and the relationship between arts engagement and social connectedness. Highlights from the brief are available in their press release.
Reaching new artists, musicians and creatives can be challenging. Utilize Mass Cultural Council’s Guide to Writing a Call to Artists to expand your outreach efforts.
Read Previous Months’ Listings
If you have an opportunity or resource for cultural organizations that you’d like to pitch for our monthly round-up, please email us. Efforts to submit the opportunity in a format similar to our standard (see listings above) are deeply appreciated. Because space is limited, the best submissions are 60 words or fewer and include links to web pages with more information.
