New Bedford Cultural Council
New Bedford Cultural Council (NBCC) funds programs that promote excellence, access, education, and diversity in the Arts, Humanities and Interpretive Sciences to improve the quality of life for New Bedford city residents.
NBCC ensures that New Bedford’s share of Massachusetts Cultural Council funds are administered fairly and in the best interests of the community.
Contact
newbedfordcc@gmail.com
000-000-0000
Address
PO Box 2027
New Bedford, MA 02741-2027
Connect on Social
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Application Information
FY25 Allocation
$145,700
FY25 Local Priorities
Local cultural council (LCC) funds are used to support programs in the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences. This definition includes the study, pursuit, performance, exhibition, and appreciation of cultural activities in the broadest sense. Each year the New Bedford Cultural Council (NBCC) adjusts its guidelines and criteria based on responses to a community input survey.
To be considered, the proposed project must either take place in New Bedford or directly benefit the citizens of New Bedford. The New Bedford Cultural Council will give priority to grants that have a measurable impact on the New Bedford community through the following:
1. Projects that provide free or low-cost events and programming
2. Projects that provide opportunities for education, enrichment, and skill-building (ie: workshops). These include but are not limited to the subjects of nature, science, and the environment.
3. Projects with a focus on inclusivity, diversity, or local history.
4. Projects offering outdoor concerts and festivals, public art and performances, and gallery/museum exhibits.
5. Projects that provide opportunities and offer support to individual, emerging or established visual, literary, and performing artists and filmmakers.
FY25 Local Guidelines
1. The NBCC will only accept applications submitted online. No paper applications will be accepted.
2. This is a direct grant program. Award money will be available to you ahead of your project, under the guidelines outlined in your award letter.
3. Grant requests must be between $250-$4,000 per application. The NBCC looks more favorably on applicants who pursue additional funding sources to support their projects. Food, lodging, and fund-raising are not funded by NBCC.
4. Applications from applicants must be capped at $12,000 per grant cycle (ie: you many apply for 3 grants of $4,000 or 6 grants for $2000, etc.)
4. If the budget includes salaries or stipends, attach a detailed breakdown of the allocation of funds for salaries on a separate page. Project locations (i.e. performance venue/gallery space) must be secured in advance of the application. Please attach confirmation letters from the venue or any letters of support for your project.
5. If individuals or an organization collaborate on a single application, one member of the collaboration must be designated as the lead applicant for fiscal management purposes.
6. The Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) and the LCC must be credited by using the MCC’s credit logo or credit line. We encourage grant recipients to use both the MCC logo and the credit statement, but you are only required to use one. Logos are downloadable from this site. The logo must be produced as a unit without alteration.
The credit line is as follows:
“This program is supported in part by a grant from the New Bedford Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.”
FOR SCHOOLS THAT ARE APPLYING
1. Any field trip that fits with your class curriculum is eligible to be funded. Some examples of trips we’ve funded in the past are: trips to shows at the Zeiterion, the Rotch-Jones-Duff House, the Museum of Science in Cambridge, etc. In your application, please describe how this trip/program directly connects or relates to classroom learning.
2. Schools organizing the field trip are eligible to apply, as well as cultural organizations hosting the field trips. Using the online application, please insert the name of your school in the “applicant” field and your contact name in the “contact name” field.
3. There is no set maximum on the amount that a given school can receive for field trips. However, the amount that we will be able to give to each school will depend on the number of overall requests and the amount of money we receive.
How Grant Recipients Are Paid
Direct Grants
FY25 Funding List
| Name | Project Title | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd Eye Youth Empowerment, Inc. | 3rd Eye Open | $1,586 | 3rd Eye Youth Empowerment, Inc. | Kids Open Art Week | $1,586 | AHA! New Bedford | AHA! Docent Program | $1,586 | AHA! New Bedford | AHA! Moments | $3,600 | AHA! New Bedford | AHA! Seaport Sessions | $3,600 | Andrews, David | Indigenous Song and Dance for First Annual New Bedford Indegenous Social | $3,000 | Anello, Andrew | New Moon Projects: BodyBodyBody, New Moon Roller Disco | $1,586 | Angeley, Jeffrey | Living Traditions: Balance&Swing, OT Fiddle Session & Community Gathering, BUC | $3,600 | Angeley, Jeffrey | What We Make Together | $3,000 | Arakelian, Garine | Colorful Clay Relief Tile | $304 | Art Museum New Bedford, Inc. | Twirl & Whirl | $3,000 | Art Museum New Bedford, Inc. | FriYAY Live Music series | $2,168 | Art Museum New Bedford, Inc. | Film Class with Professor Mocha | $1,586 | Baptista, Candida Rose | Kriolas di Muzika: Not Just for Men Anymore - A Sonic Book Presentation and Concert | $1,586 | Bean, Cara | Mindful Doodling Workshop | $428 | Beltran Salinas, Gerardo | Driver's licenses in Massachusetts K'iche' | $2,963 | Beltran Salinas, Gerardo | Drivers license in Spanish | $3,000 | Bishop, Scott | Amplified Silence | $3,000 | Bishop, Scott | Unexpected Music | $3,330 | Bishop, Scott | Unexpected Anomalies | $1,348 | Buzzards Bay Coalition, Inc. | Spotlighting New Bedford’s Abolition Row through the Pulitzer Prize winning Master Slave Husband Wife | $1,188 | Camarao, Christian | New Bedford Roots and Branches Festival | $3,600 | Cape Verdean Recognition Committee, Inc. | 53rd Cape Verdean Recognition Parade | $3,000 | Co-Creative Center, Inc. | Co-Creative Sessions | $3,000 | Coastal Foodshed, Inc. | Learn to Love Local - Supporting Local Musicians | $3,600 | Community Autism Resources, Incorporated | Twilight Tour at Buttonwood Zoo for Autistic Individuals and their families | $694 | Downtown New Bedford, Inc. | Annual Downtown New Bedford Holiday Stroll | $3,600 | Dream Out Loud Center, Inc. | The Student Showcase | $1,586 | Easton Children's Museum, Inc. | Fossil Discoveries | $675 | Ethnic Arts Center of Somerville, Inc. | Azorean Puppetry Arts Legacy Project | $1,875 | Evans, Midori | Artists Share! The Power of Cross Pollination | $3,000 | Evans, Midori | South Coast (MA and RI) Writing Events Calendar | $1,190 | Fazio, Rhonda M | Interwoven Open Studio Sessions | $3,420 | Fazio, Rhonda M | Seafood at Sunset | $3,600 | Fine Art Studio & Gallery, Alison Wells | Music & Art: Sounds of AHA! | $2,970 | Fine Art Studio & Gallery, Alison Wells | From Magazines to Masterpieces | $2,464 | Friends of the New Bedford Free Public Library, Inc | One Up Games at the Library | $810 | Friends of the New Bedford Free Public Library, Inc | Henna at the Library | $360 | Friends of the New Bedford Free Public Library, Inc | Aromatherapy: Hydration Station | $268 | Friends of the New Bedford Free Public Library, Inc | A Pleasant Pairing: Tea and Fine Chocolates | $268 | Fuenzalida-Guzman, Paulina | Identity, Resistance, and Transformation | $1,586 | Fuenzalida-Guzman, Paulina | Embroidery on paper | $1,800 | Gallery X, Inc. | Gallery X Unplugged | $2,925 | Gallery X, Inc. | Cinema 169 | $1,586 | Global Learning Charter Public School | Guys and Dolls - 20th Anniversary Show | $595 | Klein, JULIANA | ART EXHIBITS | $3,000 | Lapp, Sarah Jane | Puzzical Chairs & Pops with Live Music by Skyjelly | $3,000 | Luz, Nicole | We are still here series: Debunking the myth of Indigenous American Extinction | $990 | Luz, Nicole | Winter Indigenous Social | $1,586 | Luz, Nicole | Puerto Rican Festival: Honoring our Ancestors | $1,586 | MCLEAN, MICHAEL | New Beige Bash Music Festival | $3,600 | MCLEAN, MICHAEL | Stoveboat Concert Series | $1,586 | Maiato FitzGerald, Christine | Earring, The Art | $694 | Maiato FitzGerald, Christine | Beginners Yoga @ Gallery X | $506 | Martell, Scott | Magic Show | $525 | Matson, Rhonda | Backyard Band Family Jams | $743 | New Bedford Ballet Foundation, Inc. | Ballet Fairytales for PACE Head Start | $686 | New Bedford Economic Development Council, Inc. | Love the Ave "Sabor y Ritmo" Community Block Party | $3,600 | New Bedford Economic Development Council, Inc. | Seaport Art Walk 2025 | $3,600 | New Bedford Economic Development Council, Inc. | ArtWeek SouthCoast 2025 | $563 | New Bedford Festival Theatre, Inc. | New Bedford Festival Theatre Summer Academy 2025 | $1,586 | New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, Inc. | Ceremonies & Celebrations | $1,586 | New Bedford Historical Society, Inc. | Juneteenth Family Celebration | $3,000 | New Bedford Parks, Recreation & Beaches | Out of School Time Field Trips | $1,586 | New Bedford Parks, Recreation & Beaches | Trails of New Bedford | $2,925 | Our Sisters' School, Inc. | Performing Arts Program | $1,586 | Pimentel, Michelle | Arts at the Vault | $1,547 | Pinheiro, Maria | Tomorrow is a Glass House | $3,000 | Practice Best Practice, Inc. | Practice Best Practice Workshops | $3,150 | Robitaille, James J. | Jim Robitaille Group | $991 | Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum, Inc. | Shakespeare in New Bedford 2025 - Romeo & Juliet | $1,800 | Seaglass Theater Company, Inc. | Music in the Library | $476 | Spinner Publications, Inc. | New Bedford Blubber: Writers Workshops | $3,000 | Sunshine's Place, Inc. | Early Ed. Comm Mural | $1,388 | The Artists Index, Inc. | The Artists Index Salon Series | $1,586 | The Artists Index, Inc. | The Lost Artists of the South Coast Podcast Series | $1,586 | The Community Collaborative, Inc. | 2nd Annual Ghost Tour | $793 | The First Unitarian Church In New Bedford Inc | Bread and Puppet Theater | $1,500 | The First Unitarian Church In New Bedford Inc | 41st Annual Jazz Concert | $2,250 | Thomas Jr, Isidro | New Bedford, my home by the sea | $1,467 | Thomas, Patricia | Culture*Park Playbuilding Lab - "Plays With Music" Edition | $595 | Tri-County Music Association, Inc. | Complimentary Senior Tickets | $180 | Wainer Woods LLC | Eastern Medicine Singers | $1,428 | Whaling History Alliance, Inc. | 2025 WHA Summer Concert Series | $3,600 | Wild Heart Herb House | Wild Heart Herb Fest 2025 | $1,586 | Wild Heart Herb House | Queer Communi-Tea | $1,142 | Youth Opportunities Unlimited | Eco-Art: Observing, Exploring, and Creating with Nature | $446 | Zeiterion Theatre, Inc. | The Z’s Collaborative, Free Arts and Culture Programming: Jazz Jams, Mobile Creative Classroom, SuperART, HBCU Fair, Abolition Row Park Performance Series | $3,000 | Zukas, Karen | NBACE Mural Slam | $1,586 |
