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
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.)
Mass Cultural Council’s complete list of FY26 grant opportunities for the creative and cultural sector are now available at a glance.
The Peter and Elizabeth Tower Foundation’s 2025 Federal Crisis Response: General Operating Grants of $60,000 will support 45 youth-serving organizations working within Barnstable, Dukes, Essex, and/or Nantucket counties. The Foundation focuses its work on behalf of young people, from birth to age 26, who have intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, mental health issues, and/or substance use disorders, understanding that they often intersect and that focusing on one may not be enough. Deadline: Sept. 5, 2025.
Cummings Foundation has launched the 2026 cycle of its annual $30 Million Grant Program. This place-based, open-call initiative will provide 150 eastern Massachusetts nonprofits with substantial multi-year funding, including those focusing on human services, fairness and justice, education, healthcare, and the environment. LOI deadline: Sept. 17, 2025.
MassGIS’ Massachusetts Geospatial Framework Grant offers matching grants to assist regional planning agencies and municipalities in creating, revising, stewarding, or making Framework data more accessible. The focus of the program will be government organizations that have struggled to develop and/or maintain that infrastructure. Deadline: Sept. 22, 2025.
New England Foundation for the Arts is accepting applications for the 2026 cohort of Making It Public for MA Municipalities, a public art training program to support municipal staff in commissioning temporary public art with more inclusive and equitable processes that focus on principles of fairness, transparency, and accountability in public procurement. In addition to the training, participating municipalities receive a $15,000 grant to conduct a Call for Temporary Public Art. Deadline: Sept. 29, 2025.
The Mass Department of Transportation’s Local Early and Actionable Planning (LEAP) Program provides resources that support capacity building for transportation projects with a focus on rural and Gateway city areas. The goal of these projects is to eliminate small barriers that hold communities back from greater state and federal funding opportunities at the planning and demonstration phase of project development. Anticipated funding will be roughly between $25,000 and $100,000 per project. Priority deadline: Sept. 30, 2025.
The Awesome Foundation is a global community advancing the interest of awesome in the universe, $1000 at a time. Each fully autonomous chapter supports projects through micro-grants, usually given out monthly. Projects include initiatives in a wide range of areas including arts, technology, community development, and more. Many awesome projects are novel or experimental, and evoke surprise and delight. Deadline: Rolling.
Leaders working in creative communities across New England are invited to New England Foundation for the Arts’ CreativeGround Fall Community Leader Workshop on Sept. 10, 2025 from 2-3:30pm. Learn how to use CreativeGround.org as a tool to support and amplify your community’s creatives.
Register for PhilanthropyMA’s Asking Without Anxiety – A Major Gifts Workshop on Sept. 17, 2025 from 9am-12pm. In this lively three-hour workshop, you will learn how to reach out to your donors to more fully engage them in the life of your organization.
Join the National Guild for Community Arts Education’s Monthly Community Arts Education Advocacy Briefing on Sept. 18, 2025 at 1pm. Get the latest federal policy updates, learn about current legislative efforts, participate in an open Q&A, and share your advocacy experiences.
State House News Service and MASSterList are hosting Boston at the Crossroads: Challenges and Opportunities in an Evolving Economy, a panel discussion featuring city business and policy leaders. Sept. 24, 2025 from 8-10:30am at the MCLE Conference Center in Boston.
Associated Industries of Massachusetts is hosting a September Economic Outlook Forum. Rick MacDonald, Managing Director and New England Region Manager at JP Morgan Commercial Banking will deliver the keynote address, offering a compelling look into how Massachusetts businesses are thinking, feeling, and responding to today’s economic landscape. Sept. 25, 2025 at Roxbury Community College.
The Office of the Attorney General Massachusetts’ Non-Profit Organizations/Public Charities Division is hosting Navigating the Changing Non-Profit Landscape, a series of webinars designed to address the needs of the nonprofit sector:
Register for The Arts Foundation of Cape Cod’s Creative Exchange Conference 2025, a full day of inspiration, collaboration, and creative energy that will bring together artists, cultural leaders, and community members from across the region. Oct. 8, 2025 at the Cotuit Center for the Arts.
The Mass Coalition to Build Community and End Loneliness invites organizations to join them in preparing for the 2nd Annual Good Neighbor Day, expanded to include the weekend of Sept. 26-28, 2025. Good Neighbor Day highlights the power of connection, kindness, and community. Whether you host a neighborhood gathering, reach out to isolated residents, host a scavenger hunt, hold a “find your people” fair, create a good neighbor bingo card game, or simply help spread the word, every contribution makes a difference. A Good Neighbor Day 2025 Toolkit is available and includes a one pager(s) and many other promotional materials to help you spread the word about your Good Neighbor Day event. Please register your event with the Good Neighbor Day 2025.
The Visual Arts in Healthcare Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital will host an international symposium, Bridging Visual Arts & Healthcare: Impact, Innovation, and Research from September 23-25, 2026. This symposium aims to build community between visual arts and healthcare through an exchange of methodologies and emerging research among health professionals, art and medical educators, and artists. The central focus of the symposium is to advance learning in a community of providers by effectively utilizing the visual arts to improve skills and effectiveness, teamwork, and patient outcomes in healthcare. The symposium committee welcomes proposals by Sept. 19, 2025 from healthcare professionals, art educators, arts and humanities scholars, and researchers, as well as students and trainees. They encourage perspectives that examine cross-disciplinary intersections or invoke theories and non-traditional methods. Questions? Contact artsinhealthcare@bwh.harvard.edu.
Open Door Arts’ Arts & Culture Accessibility Hub is a resource to support transforming your access intentions into action. Co-created by a majority-disabled team of cultural access experts, this free, easy-to-use platform offers tools, training, and guidance to help you strengthen your organization’s accessibility, and connect with community.
The National Guild for Community Arts Education has a number of open opportunities:
Applications are open until filled.
The Attorney General’s Guide for Board Members of Charitable Organizations provides information to assist board members with their responsibilities.
LISC’s longstanding partnership with Verizon is connecting small business owners to key resources through the Small Business Digital Ready Program, which offers free courses, mentorship, networking, and grants created just for small businesses (including a dedicated Spanish-language site).
The Healey-Driscoll Administration has relaunched Everyone Can Take Climate Action, a one-stop hub that links households, commuters, and businesses to rebates, tax credits, and how-to guides.
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.
