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Looking Back, Moving Forward: A Fiscal Year in Review

Christian Kelly, Public Relations & Events Manager

photo of a crowd dancing and clapping to a live music performance in a park.
Performance in Boston’s Latin Quarter Cultural District.

June is a month of transitions. Students, educators, and families are wrapping up another school year. Summer begins. Communities gather for concerts on porches and in parks. Festivals are happening downtown. And neighbors are coming together for celebrations.

At Mass Cultural Council, June marks the end of our fiscal year. A natural moment to reflect upon how we’ve supported the cultural sector and look ahead at the Agency’s work to come.

As Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) comes to a close, we’re celebrating not only the grants and investments made by the Agency over the past 12 months but also the ongoing contributions of countless artists, organizations, communities, and cultural leaders to make Massachusetts a more vibrant place to live and work.

Because while grantmaking is one part of the equation, the real story is what happens with those investments.

Investing in a Rich Cultural Life

This year, Mass Cultural Council awarded more than 2,200 grants across several programs, totaling almost $35 million. This funding supported creative individuals, cultural organizations, cultural districts, schools, municipalities, and community partners across the Commonwealth.

These investments included funding for:

These grants help sustain the spirit of the people, places, and organizations making culture thrive across the Commonwealth, allowing us to come together and learn, create, and connect.

Communities at the Center

We believe that culture is strongest when it is rooted in community. It enriches the quality of life and well-being of individuals and families across Massachusetts.

In every region of Massachusetts, cultural organizations, artists, municipal leaders, schools, libraries, and residents are working together to create places where people feel engaged.

This would not be possible without the vital work of the more than 2,400 volunteers who serve on 329 Local Cultural Councils and four Tribal Cultural Councils. As part of their tireless efforts to address their individual communities’ cultural needs, they reviewed some 13,140 applications in FY26 — ultimately awarding 7,525 grants for projects benefiting every city and town across the state.

Meanwhile, our 58 state-designated Cultural Districts focused on helping their host communities foster the local cultural economy, attract tourists and entrepreneurs, and expand their tax base.

A Sector that Continues to Deliver

From the festivals that draw crowds to our bustling downtowns; to the museums, theaters, galleries, libraries, and community centers that welcome millions of guests each year; to the artists and creative businesses that contribute to their local economies and help define the identity of our cities and towns, the cultural sector continually demonstrates its value.

And that’s especially easy to see when looking at some of the milestones achieved in FY26, including:

Broadening the Perception of the Value of Culture

Through strategic partnerships Mass Cultural Council continues to position the cultural sector as a visible, recognized resource and an essential partner in problem solving across the Commonwealth.

We have seen growing recognition across sectors — such as health and business — that creativity can be part of broader solutions.

For example, in health, our work this year to encourage the practice of Social Prescription included:

To encourage more and deeper connections between the arts and business, in FY26 we developed new resources to support creative entrepreneurs:

  • Our Business Resources for Creatives & Entrepreneurs webpage, part of the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s Business Front Door initiative, helps artists take the next step in their creative endeavors.
  • In partnership with Mass Restaurant Association and Mass Lodging Association, we launched a Partner with Local Artists Campaign, providing guidance, technical support — and a directory of more than 1,000 Massachusetts visual artists — to small businesses interested in partnering with local creatives to make their spaces more vibrant.

Looking Ahead

As we close out FY26, we are proud of the investments we’ve made, but more importantly, we are inspired by YOU, the people behind these accomplishments.

The artists who create, the organizations that serve their communities, the local leaders who champion culture, and the residents who participate, volunteer, and advocate.

The cultural sector’s success belongs to all of you.

The year ahead will certainly bring new opportunities and challenges. But if this year has shown us anything, it’s that the arts remain one of Massachusetts’ greatest strengths: a source of creativity, connection, resilience, and possibility.

Thank you for being part of that story. We can’t wait to see what comes next.

Please join us on June 25, 2026 for a virtual celebration of our sector and the public investments made into arts and culture throughout FY26. 

 

Register for Our Virtual Fiscal Year-End Grant Celebration


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