Power of Culture Blog
Mass Cultural Council Commits $26.2M to Grants in FY26
Agency's newly-adopted spending plan to bolster the Commonwealth’s creative and cultural sector
Dawn Heinen, Digital Communications Manager
2025 marks the 45th anniversary of the Local Cultural Council (LCC) Program, and one way we are honoring this milestone is to hear from the incredible volunteers who make this vital program — the largest grassroots cultural funding network in the nation — sing.
Every city and town in Massachusetts has an LCC working to bring public programs in the arts. humanities, and sciences to their community. Here are some reflections from a few of them:
Brian C. Butler, Stoughton Cultural Council member for 1 year
I also was formerly a Town Meeting Precinct representative and serve on the Board of the Council on Aging, but felt I still had the time and energy for additional public service.
Dr. Gloria Caballero, Holyoke Local Cultural Council member for 3 years
I’ve found that culture is power. There is the politics of culture and the culture of politics. Culture is nurtured by the spiritual/material legacy of the people, and that is a powerful tool for change in the way we understand justice, equity, regenerative practices, and psychological healing.
Linda Redding, Halifax Cultural Council member for more than 30 years
I wanted to support the arts in my community.
Sheila Damkoehler, Bernardston Cultural Council member for 17 years
I was asked! As a fiber artist, I had applied for and received very small Local Cultural Council grants to do arts programming in our local and nearby schools, so it seemed like a way to give back that did not require a huge time commitment.
Stephanie Sullivan, Sutton Cultural Council member for 2 years
I wanted to volunteer in my community. The Sutton Cultural Council was a great way to give back to the community by supporting the activities which represent the town.
Brian: Awarding grants to 28 of the 54 applications in the FY25 funding cycle.
Gloria: Seeing how much arts and culture we have been able to sponsor, and how much people enjoy them.
Linda: The Halifax Council on Aging (COA) had participants in the “For the Love of Art” LCC-sponsored program paint a mural – with the help of an artist in residence – on the fireplace at the historic Popes Tavern, home of the Halifax COA.
Sheila: Sitting with my grown kids and their kids on blankets on the grass around the pond behind Cushman Library at one of the summer concerts that the library sponsored with LCC funding. And looking around at all the other people – young and old, singles, couples, and other families – such a cross section of our small community. As the band was thanking the Bernardston Cultural Council, I realized, “Oh, I’m part of that!”
Stephanie: Receiving feedback from the community about the great work we are doing and how appreciative they are that we are here.
Brian: We are currently just a six-person council, but still plan to march for two miles behind our banner in the July 4 Parade.
Gloria: We are a team of committed residents who wants to see our city as a vibrant cultural hub. Our shared enthusiasm, nurturing mission and vision, our understanding the local culture – and its challenges – makes this membership a genuine and passionate committee for inclusion, diversity, and opportunities for all!
Linda: The committee is made up of people who care about Halifax.
Sheila: I don’t know that we are special – we’re just regular people, trying to do our part. We are always struggling to have enough members, so we have not been able to do more than the basic requirements, e.g. plan any extra events. The requirement to leave the LCC after two terms is a hardship for our small community, meaning that the people who are experienced need to leave, while we struggle to find replacements.
Stephanie: We offer several activities supporting young and old spanning a variety of projects including music, walking/hiking tours, senior storytelling and dancing, and scholarships.
Brian: Stoughton community feeling, revealed annually at the July 4 Parade.
Gloria: Resilience.
Linda: The history of our town is special.
Sheila: Let me count the ways! I moved here from the Cape almost 40 years ago when we were a young family. We felt welcomed immediately, and found a community that helped us raise our children, and then supported me with such care when my husband died suddenly when the kids were still in school. Now at retirement age, I still feel it is the only place I ever want to live. The countryside is beautiful – fields, farms, and forests – and our small “downtown” welcomed my daughter back from 20 years away developing her skills to open “Sweet Lucy’s Bakeshop” and were so supportive during COVID that her new business not only survived, but thrived. If you ever want to be part of a most authentic small town American experience, come to Bernardston on Memorial Day. The first time I went to the parade I learned that I did not need the folding lawn chair I brought because the parade was so short. But I did learn to keep a few tissues in my pocket as we head over after the parade each year to the town cemetery for a sweet, simple, heartfelt, and very meaningful and patriotic ceremony. I was warned by people about small towns before I moved to one (I grew up in suburbia), where everyone knows your business. But in my small town, when my neighbors know my business it means they care and want to help.
Stephanie: There is strong community pride that is steeped in long standing traditions, values, and practices. Our place in the history of this country are often masked by the smaller census numbers. However, Sutton has a lot to offer.
Brian: It is an opportunity for local artists to share the largesse of state funding, as managed and distributed by the Sutton Cultural Council.
Gloria: It means a group of people trying to do their best to support and sponsor events that our community – through public surveys – has considered are needed and want to see themselves represented. It means a space for appreciation given the platform the LCC represents for the people’s voices to be heard.
Linda: The Halifax Cultural Council provides creative and cultural opportunities for residents of all ages.
Sheila: We are a small, rural community and don’t have the kind of cultural opportunities that larger urban areas have. Our LCC has tried to provide a variety of experiences (visual arts, music, theater, history) to a variety of age groups (students, seniors, families, single adults). We also believe in helping to support events and opportunities in the nearby towns that our Bernardston residents would likely travel to.
Stephanie: It allows us to showcase community talent that would otherwise be forgotten. It also allows us to share several multi-generational activities intended to continue the small community closeness families appreciate about Sutton.
Brian: Funding of the arts allows special activities and talents to flourish, adding texture to community life.
Gloria: It’s the value of acknowledgment of people’s manifested expressions of sharing, communicating heritage and diverse values. It’s the value of common understanding and thus making our city stronger and much more united.
Linda: Halifax Cultural Council has provided opportunities for our community members and organizations that may not have happened if not for those LCC grants.
Sheila: Our local and regional business community does what it can – so many businesses give generously to help with arts and culture (and other community needs, such as youth sports), but they are mostly small businesses and can only do so much. Government support provides the needed boost – without which we would truly be in an arts and culture desert.
Stephanie: State supported art has the potential to expand the economy, strengthen community standards, and enrich cultural life. Showcasing aspects of the community helps to revitalize it.
Brian: The Summer Music Festival on Thursday nights, sponsored by the Lions Club, allows local musicians to perform and receive feedback before a live audience.
Gloria: Cultural spaces. We would like to have more of those hidden gems, and want to reach people who know about how to bring people together be it through food, music, dance, painting, sports, graphic design, arts classes, and/or academic institutions.
Linda: The Holmes Public Library serves the Halifax community well. It is a space where residents of all ages gather for programs, access information, and borrow library material. A display case at the entrance provides a place where residents can share and showcase their collections. The Library welcomes and provides for all.
Sheila: We’re lucky to have Cushman Park, which over the years has been the site for various festivals, including the annual Scarecrow in the Park Festival, attended by people from all around the area.
Stephanie: Close knit, family community with rich historical ties to original settlers. The community still has several activities which support 250+ year old farms and textile mills.
Brian: Answers to the Jumble newspaper puzzle.
Gloria: I write essays on the resilience of living as humans.
Brian: Multiple business and investing newspapers and magazines.
Gloria: Health Care policies for my summer camp.
Stephanie: Lovely One by Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Brian: Columbo or Password
Gloria: Blood in the Wire
Stephanie: The Rings of Power
Brian: The Concert for George on PBS.
Gloria: Smith College Arts Museum’s exhibits. Amazing and the staff is stellar! Thank you Gina!
Stephanie: All of the concerts we have provided on the Sutton Commons have been awesome!
We are highlighting LCC members throughout the year, and invite them to share a nano interview with us!
