Mass Cultural Council logo
Home / Blog / Advocacy / Mass Cultural Council Seeks $20M for Arts & Culture in FY22 State Budget

Mass Cultural Council Seeks $20M for Arts & Culture in FY22 State Budget

Bethann Steiner, Public Affairs Director

Children wearing winter hats and coats playing stringed instructments while performing outside
Children in the Boston Music Project performing in Boston’s Chinatown.

Mass Cultural Council seeks a state appropriation of $20 million for FY22, a $1.82 million increase from the current fiscal year. The Agency will invest these resources into a portfolio of programs and services that enhance, support, and promote the cultural sector in every corner of the Commonwealth and provide stability for artists and cultural organizations as they continue to rebuild and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Data shows that a robust investment in the arts, humanities, and sciences through Mass Cultural Council delivers significant returns to the Commonwealth. Whether in Greater Boston, Cape Cod, the Berkshires or in between, nonprofit cultural organizations drive local economies in every region of the state. Prior to COVID-19, the nonprofit organizations supported by Mass Cultural Council:

  • Generated $2.3 billion in annual economic activity.
  • Supported more than 71,000 full-time-equivalent jobs statewide.
  • Produced more than $128 million in new revenues for Massachusetts.
  • Raised an additional $157 in private funds for every public dollar awarded.

Robust public investment is necessary to stabilize and restore the Commonwealth’s once vibrant and booming cultural sector. Massachusetts’ state economy cannot fully recover from the pandemic without the contributions of individual artists and cultural organizations.

Read the FY22 State Budget Request

In support of this budget request, Mass Cultural Council Executive Director Michael J. Bobbitt submitted the following testimony today to the Joint Committee on Ways & Means:


Back to Top