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Lowell Cultural Council

The Lowell Cultural Council’s (LCC) mission is to promote excellence, access, education and diversity in the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences in order to improve the quality of life for all Lowell residents and to contribute to the economic vitality of this community through the re-granting of public monies awarded to the LCC by the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC). The Lowell Cultural Council is an agent of the Massachusetts Cultural Council which receives funding from the Massachusetts Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts. Distributions are based on a local aid formula devised by the state and are not determined by the individual municipality.

Contact

Erin Duffey, Administrator
culturalcouncillowell@gmail.com
978-674-1483

Address
375 Merrimack Street
Lowell, MA 01852-5909

Application Information

FY23 Allocation

$133,600

FY23 Local Priorities

Priorities for the 2023 year are based on the responses from a city-wide survey. Based on those results, the LCC will give extra consideration to grants with a focus on:

* Arts Education and Instruction including, but not limited to, Children’s Programming

* Performing Arts including dance, theater, spoken word, and musical performances.

This does not preclude grants being awarded to individuals and organizations applying from all other Arts & Culture disciplines, and we welcome creativity and diversity.

FY23 Local Guidelines

Because the application process is competitive, it is imperative that applicants familiarize themselves with Council guidelines. Applicants must ensure that they follow the guidelines in the application process and then, if the application is successful, follow the guidelines for publicity and reimbursement.

Applications will be accepted for projects taking place between January 1 and December 31, 2023.
Deadline for receipt of online applications is 11:59pm, Monday, October 17th. Early submission is strongly recommended.

Lowell Cultural Council restrictions:

The Lowell Cultural Council will accept no more than two applications per lead individual, lead organization or under the umbrella of the same program serving the same or overlapping audience. For further clarification, please attend one of the online grant workshops. We do not fund semester long residencies in the Lowell Public Schools. Please apply to the Mass Cultural Council Stars Residencies which are grants to schools to fund this type of project.

� Available funding and high demand for support may result in an award smaller than funds requested. Indicate on the application how this may affect your project. Awards have historically ranged from several hundred dollars up to $5,000. In 2022, LCC awarded 42 project grants at an average of $3,900. Additional grants in varying amounts may be made available at LCC’s discretion, subject to total available grant funds and the grant applicant pool.

� Repeat Funding: In order to encourage new applicants and to ensure the widest distribution of funds, projects may not receive funding for more than three consecutive years. Applicants who received funding for three consecutive years must wait one year for applying again for the same project. However, applicants may receive funding for more than three consecutive years for projects which are conceptually different.

� Incomplete Requirements: Grant recipients who fail to complete grant requirements are ineligible to apply for a new grant for two years.

� LCC reserves the right to restrict funding of any item(s) and or grantees regardless of cost that do not provide a significant public benefit.

Electronic applications will be available online at https://massculturalcouncil.org/ on September 1, 2022.
For assistance with creating an application a video walk through from MCC is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD7mPcAroKI

For more information on the grant application process, visit https://massculturalcouncil.org/communities/local-cultural-council-program/application-process

The Lowell Cultural Council requires that the following documentation MUST accompany the application:
1. Resumes of all individuals engaged in leadership roles in the project.
2. Written letters of support from partner organizations/individuals.
3. Written letter from venues confirming participation in/acceptance of the project if necessary.
4. Public art projects must have written permission from owners of property. If Public Art projects are to take place in Historic Districts and/or Lowell National Historical Park, letters of support from the Historic Board and/or Lowell National Historical Park must accompany the application. If the Public Art project is a permanent installation, a maintenance plan must accompany the application. If the Public Art project is a temporary installation, an installation and removal plan must accompany the application.
5. All applications that anticipate gatherings of over 50 people must provide an alternative plan should future pandemic restrictions require modification of the original project.
6. As needed or applicable, projects are required to provide assistive support for the deaf, hard of hearing or blind in addition to meeting ADA requirements for those with physical disabilities. Budgets must include a line item for assistive support. Please note that the Lowell Cultural Council maintains a separate fund for assistive support and will pay providers directly.

Please note that the online application allows a maximum of three pages of PDF attachments for supplemental materials. Additional pages of supplemental materials should be sent to the Council via link to a Dropbox file. This link should be embedded in the supplemental materials (for instructions go to https://www.dropbox.com/help/167 and follow the instructions for creating a shared link).

Grant Evaluation
There are five major areas considered by council members in evaluating each grant application: 1) quality of project, 2) community benefit, 3) budget and funding, 4) planning, and 5) leadership. Each area has a rating scale of one to five for a total of 25 points.

The criteria used to evaluate these areas and determine a grant’s success include:

1. Quality of Project – Is it creative, unique? Does it have a specific focus and is that focus well defined? Is it engaging? Is it collaborative? Will the project enhance the cultural life of the city? Where will the project take place? Are dates and times included?

2. Community Benefit – How well does the project serve the residents of Lowell? What is the audience to be served? Does the project reflect priorities developed from the community input meeting? Is the target audience an underserved population? Is the applicant a Lowell resident, work in Lowell or participating in a work/study project in the city?

3. Budget and Funding Support – Does the budget balance? Does the budget follow guidelines? Is the budget appropriate and clear? Are there other sources of funding or is LCC the sole source of funding? Is the project budget specific? Has this project been funded previously by LCC? Should this project be part of the city budget? If the project is only partially funded, can it be modified and completed successfully? Does the budget include a line item for assistive support for the deaf, hard of hearing, blind or physically disabled?

4. Planning – Are there well-defined goals / targets? Is this a single event or an on-going project? When and where will the project take place? If an on-going project, is there a culminating event, activity, or product that can act as a benchmark for evaluation? Is it clear that project planning has already taken place? Is the public program portion of this project accessible to individuals with disabilities? Is there a letter of support from the venue if the venue requires it? What are plans for promotion and outreach? Funding is based on a project taking place. Are there contingency plans for weather or pandemic related delays?

5. Leadership – Does the leadership / staff have experience? Do personnel qualifications match the project’s needs? Who is involved in the planning process for the project? (Are specific individuals/organizations and their contributions listed?) Is there evidence of past success in executing a similar project? Is there an alternative plan to respond to future pandemic restrictions?

Timeline for Lowell Cultural Council Grant Cycle
MCC online application goes live September 1st.
Online application are due no later than 11:59pm on October 17, 2022.

Applicant Review Procedure
Council members review each grant application. Members then submit questions they have regarding your grant to the Chairs. Interviews will be held via phone on October 26th. Applicants will receive a call that evening between the hours of 6:30 PM-8:30 PM. If you are not available, you may respond to questions via email by 11:59 PM on October 28th. If none of the Council members have questions regarding your grant application, you will receive an email letting you know we did not have any questions for you.

Council members are not experts in every field and the questions allow members to fill in their knowledge gaps. While there is no standard set of questions, all questions are based on the application. Questions tend to fall into one of the following categories:
– Asking for information that was missing in the application.
– Clarification about the project description
– Details about the planning process
– Explanation of community benefit
– Strategies for marketing and promotion
– Qualifications of project leaders
– Clarification of budget details

Council members will attempt to keep their questions direct and succinct. We ask you to do the same in your responses. Responding to these questions is strictly voluntary but is strongly recommended.

The Voting Meetings
Once the Council members have had an opportunity to review all applications and responses to questions (if any), they will tentatively score each application. The dates for deliberations and funding will be posted on our Facebook page after the deadline.

Denials and Approvals

– Applicants who are not approved for funding will have 15 days from the date of notification to request reconsideration. Please note, reconsideration can be requested if, and only if, it is believed that the Council did not follow published state and local guidelines in the grant making process.
– Once the reconsideration period has passed and the Lowell Cultural Council has received the allocation for 2023, the Council will send out approval letters to successful applicants.

How Grant Recipients Are Paid

Reimbursement Grants

FY23 Funding List

Name Project Title Amount
Angkor Dance Troupe, Inc. Angkor Dance Troupe presents Yike $3,969
Chakraborty, Maitreyee Harmony in Vocal and 'Sarod' - exploring Tagore's Compositions $1,629
City of Lowell Spring Clean Up Concert Series $10,000
City of Lowell Senior Artists Learning Together $2,975
Corporation for the Celebration of Jack Kerouac in Lowell Annual Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Festival $3,069
Do-it-Yourself Lowell Community Idea Summit 2023 $3,088
Farkas, Maxine The Lowell Photo Archive Phase 2 $3,069
FreeVerse! FreeVerse! $3,825
Image Theatre, Inc. Lost Cellphone Weekend $1,500
Ismatul Oliva, Susana Salsa in the Park $3,838
James, Wendy Face to Face $500
Latinx Community Center for Empowerment, Inc. Lowell Hispanic and Latinx Festival $8,500
Loading Dock Arts, Inc. Loading Dock Arts Workshops and Speaker Series $1,869
Lowell Art Association "Whistler's Mother Reborn" $3,969
Lowell Art Association Art in Gardening and Landscaping for Seniors $8,500
Lowell Chamber Orchestra Lowell Chamber Orchestra: FY23-24 Season $5,398
Lowell Film Collaborative Lowell Book to Film, Volume I $1,287
Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race Lowell Kinetic Sculpture Race $5,000
Lowell Makes, Inc. 2023 Mill City Skill Share $3,538
Massei, Derek PALE BLUE DOT (tentative) $1,869
Merrimack Repertory Theatre MRT Educational Offerings for 2023 $6,088
Miceli, Donna Dance MOVES for PD $2,319
Miceli, Donna Dance MOVES for EveryBODY $2,284
New England Film Orchestra, Inc. Lowell Summer Music series $3,069
Orng, Sophornya Untitled Open Mic 2023 $4,063
Points of Light Lantern Celebration Points of Light Lantern Festival $6,000
Pollard Memorial Library Children's Songs and Singing Games Family Concert $575
Porter, Christopher The Town and The City Festival $2,713
The Filmmakers Collaborative, Inc. FC Academy Filmmaking Program $3,069
The Lowell Festival Foundation Lowell Folk Festival - Programming Assistance $8,500
The Lowell Festival Foundation Lowell Summer Music Series Free Fun For Kids $6,000
The Lowell Philharmonic Orchestra, Ltd. Mega Grant for 5 Concerts in 2023 $6,088

Review Complete LCC Program Guidelines


Mass Cultural Council publishes any updates as they become available. Last update was made on June 7, 2023 at 12:46 AM UTC
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