Power of Culture Blog
Mass Cultural Council Adopts $34M FY25 Spending Plan
Agency to award $26.7M in grants to bolster the Commonwealth’s creative and cultural sector
Amy Chu, Program Officer
Mass Cultural Council has launched a new grant program, Creative Projects for Schools, for the 2024-2025 school year. An expansion of STARS Residencies, this program offers $5,000 for school-based projects that foster creative learning experiences in the arts, sciences, and humanities for K-12 students.
Creative Projects for Schools funds all types of creative projects proposed by a school or an organization — including residencies, field trips, performances, art showcases, poetry readings, mural projects, arts integration trainings, oral history projects, and more.
Any type of project for a school audience that incorporates the arts, sciences, and/or humanities is now eligible, so long as it meets the program’s other eligibility requirements. (If you’ve applied to STARS Residencies in the past, you’re encouraged to apply to Creative Projects for Schools.)
Applications open September 5 and are due on October 10, 2024.
We encourage applicants to read the program guidelines and FAQs. Information sessions will be held September 10 (ASL interpretation) and September 12 (interpretación en español). There are also weekly office hours starting on September 11, 2024.
Got specific questions about your application? Email us.
If you are interested in applying for funding for a school-based project in the 2025-2026 school year, that application will open in Spring 2025. After this 2024, there will no longer be an education projects grant in the fall. This year will be the last year this type of grant cycle runs in the Fall.
Through our new Creative Experiences program, organizations (including schools) can apply to fund residencies, festivals, projects, and other cultural activities in the arts, humanities, and/or sciences. This program combines Creative Projects for Schools and Festivals & Projects into one program.
The Creative Experiences application will open in early March and close in late April. Applicants will receive notice of funding in September 2025.
The shift to Creative Experiences grants is important as it will allow Mass Cultural Council to inform grantees about their funding BEFORE the school year begins. (Something we’ve heard loud and clear from applicants is their interest in being notified of funding earlier than our previous education projects’ grant cycles could allow.) There will no longer be an education projects grant deadline in the Fall.
Therefore, we recommend that schools and organizations start planning for the Creative Experiences application by talking with their collaborators and planning projects in preparation for the Spring 2025 program launch.
