Amherst Cultural Council
The Amherst Cultural Council allocates state Arts Lottery funds, but it is directed to support and nurture arts activities in the community by seeking private or other public funds and initiatives.
Contact
Matt Holloway & Julianne Applegate - Co-Chairs
chair.of.amherst.cultural.council@gmail.com
413-259-3002
Address
4 Boltwood Avenue
Amherst, MA 01002-2302
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Application Information
FY24 Allocation
$53,800
FY24 Local Priorities
We will prioritize projects for and by BIPOC communities, individuals with disabilities, and low-income communities. We seek applications from people of all ages, races, and persuasions. We encourage new applicants and welcome repeat applicants.
Grant applications will be prioritized by the benefit they bring to the Amherst community. Please provide detailed information about how your project will specifically benefit people in the greater Amherst community.
We encourage events that bring regional collaboration and benefit. For grants that have regional audiences and also benefit Amherst residents we encourage you to apply to all LCC’s with communities who will benefit from the event.
To better serve the community, grants will be evaluated and prioritized to assure that the assortment of grants funded provide different types of arts and cultural activities: (e.g. music, theater, visual art, performing arts, literature, science, historical, and other types of events).
Council Guidelines
Requirements
Virtual events will be considered. Please include information on your virtual platform. Venues and dates must be confirmed when submitting an application. Please include a letter from the venue as confirmation of date.
FY24 Local Guidelines
Only one application from each group or individual will be considered. Please combine multi program/project requests under one application.
Applications from students are encouraged, but we do not support projects whose sole purpose is fulfillment of a requirement for a degree program.
Travel expenditures will not be reimbursed.
Please identify recipients of stipends and the number of performances, if applicable. K through 12 applications for projects and field trips must state how they relate to classroom activities and curriculum. The ACC will consider funding tickets for students and one adult for one trip per grade per school.
Do not attach more than ten pages of supplemental material.
All events and programs funded by the ACC must consider access for persons with disabilities, including the facility or event location as well as the content of the program. To ensure equitable access, an applicant should make a candid assessment and identification of barriers (physical, virtual, cultural, communication) followed by a bold and innovative plan for improvement.
Recommendations
As equity and inclusion are central to our work, we encourage applicants to develop accessibility practices and include accommodation services in their applications. ACC has dedicated funds to support accessibility — your grant budget may include additional funds for accommodation services that will provide improved access to your project. If it does, please specify the type of supports / services you are able to provide in your application narrative. Accommodations for greater access may include, but are not limited to: sign language interpreters; language interpreters and / or translations; open or closed captions; verbal and audio description; sensory modifications; and accessible website development. Resources are available through the Mass Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Mass Commission for the Blind, Massachusetts Office on Disability, Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission Independent Living Centers, the New England ADA Center, and your city’s Office of Disability. Applicants seeking more information about writing accessibility supports into their grants may reach out to ACC Co-Chair Matt Holloway (chair.of.amherst.cultural.council@gmail.com).
Regarding accessibility, applicants may also wish to review our 4/28/22 Accessibility Roundtable presentation, found at https://www.amherstma.gov/1221/Cultural-Council.
Does your council make direct grants or reimbursement based grants?
Learn more about how you can pay grantees up front to promote equity and access by reading the LCC Program Guidelines.
How Grant Recipients Are Paid
Direct Grants
FY24 Funding List
Name | Project Title | Amount |
---|---|---|
1794 Meetinghouse, Inc. | Quabbin Valley Pro Musica 2023-2024 Season | $250 | Amherst Art Alliance, Inc. | Art In Community II | $1,752 | Amherst Cambodian Exhibit Committee | Cambodians in Amherst: A History of the Khmer Community Opening Festival | $1,000 | Amherst Cinema Arts Center, Inc. | Juneteenth and $5 Family Films | $1,500 | Amherst Community Theater | Theater Access Tickets for Amherst Community Theater show "Seussical" | $1,000 | Amherst Historical Society | Strings at the Strong 2024 | $1,800 | Amherst Regional High School | Youth Voice Through Hip Hop Arts | $1,500 | Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools Multilingual Parent Advisory Council | Linguistic Heritage Celebration | $1,300 | Ancestral Bridges Foundation, Inc. | Reclaiming Our Narrative: Blacks and Indigenous in Amherst since 1776 | $2,000 | Antenna Cloud Farm, Inc. | Antenna Cloud Farm Music Festival & Retreat | $250 | Arcadia Players, Inc. | Arcadia Players 34th Season | $1,250 | Black Business Association of Amherst Area, Inc. | Still We Rise: Black Celebration Series | $3,000 | Center for Human Development, Inc. | All In! End-of-Year Recital | $3,000 | Charlemont Forum | Summer Speakers Series 2024 | $150 | Collaborative for Educational Services, Inc. | Amherst Kindergarten Readiness Music Performance | $350 | Comeau, Robert | South Amherst Cemetery and Commons Historical Tour | $170 | Elkus, Eli | Musical Storytelling & Folk Music at Amherst Farmers' Market | $450 | Empowerment Through The Arts, Inc. | Habitat Habitat: The Animal's Point of View | $1,500 | Escamilla, Marshall | Discovering Dinosaurs in the Pioneer Valley: A Place-Based Science Podcast for Kids | $800 | Ferguson, Carrie | Carrie Ferguson and The Grumpytime Club Band | $500 | Freedman, Robert | MY MAMA AND THE FULL SCALE INVASION | $800 | Friedman, Andrew D. | FLOW @ the Farmers Market | $300 | Fullerton, Sean | CREEQUE ALLEY: A Tribute to American Folk Music and 1960's Folk Rock | $450 | Hampshire Young People's Chorus | 25th Anniversary Concert | $700 | Harris, Susan Yard | Susan Yard Harris: Dialogue with a Collection | $500 | Harvester, Hannah | Climate Cafe Series | $250 | Hilltown Youth Performing Arts Program, Inc. | Hilltown Youth Recovery Theatre | $1,000 | Holt, Terry | Electrify Amherst | $850 | Human Agenda Theater | Human Agenda Theater 2024 Season | $400 | Illuminati Vocal Arts Ensemble, Inc. | Community Frostiana Performance for Frost's 150th Birthday | $750 | Leader, Rachel | KlezCummington 2024 | $600 | Lepere, Dawn | LeFever performing at The Strong House | $400 | Lippert, Sophie | Connections Concert Series | $900 | Local Access to Valley Arts | On the Boards '24 | $200 | MUSIC Dance.edu | 1. I am Autistic I am Fantastic 2. Hip Hop Chair Dance for Seniors! | $800 | Martinez, Deliabridget | Salsa con Tacos Latin Dance | $1,500 | McClung, Melissa E. | Robert M. McClung Project (Moths & Flutterbies) (working title) | $750 | Medeiros, Michael | Every Day More Fathomless | $500 | Michaux, Sophie P. | Tiny Glass Tavern concert and singing workshop: The Hagiography: A Musical Pilgrimage through the Lives of the Saints | $300 | Mohawk Trail Concerts, Inc. | Summer Festival 2024 | $250 | Montague Shakespeare Festival | Montague Shakespeare Festival | $1,000 | Mothers Institute for Collaboration and Art | MICAfest Art for Change: The M/others' View | $750 | Music On Main: Concerts at First Church | Unsilenced - Hearing Afghanistan Today Activist music of composer & pianist Arson Fahim a conversation and chamber music concert with Arson Fahim & Cuatro Puntos Ensemble | $500 | Northampton Center for the Arts, Inc. | 2024 Youth Performance Festival | $800 | Novi Cantori of Greater Springfield, Inc. | Choir Concert on Mental Health | $700 | Porter-Phelps-Huntington Foundation, Inc. | Wednesday Folk Traditions 2024 | $1,000 | Real Live Theatre | RLT presents "When The Mind's Free" | $600 | Restless Books | Amherst Immigrant Writing Workshop / Translating Emily Dickinson's Poetry w/ Children | $2,400 | Root, John A. | Welcoming Pollinators | $250 | Silverthorne Theater Company, Inc. | Summer 2024 Season | $2,000 | Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School | The Viking Runestone | $275 | Springfield Symphony Orchestra, Inc. | SSO Musical Petting Zoo | $750 | Survival Centers, Inc. | Tunes@Noon | $1,000 | Swift, Joshua | Accessible Improvisation: Creative Dance Classes | $650 | The Downtown Amherst Foundation, Inc. | Free programmiing/ events in support of the ARHS performing arts department | $2,500 | The Nolumbeka Project, Inc. | Pocumtuck Homelands Festival: A Celebration of Native American Art, Music and Cultures | $700 | Tincknell, Roger L. | Children's Songs and Singing Games Family Concert | $500 | Valley Art Salon | The ArtSalon | $400 | Valley Arts Mentors | Mentorship Program and Webinar Series | $325 | Valley Light Opera, Inc. | Iolanthe | $750 | Weaver, A. C. | Shabbtai Tsvi | $800 | the Wizard, Ed | Magic for Seniors | $450 |