Northampton Arts Council
The Northampton Arts Council works to support and nurture the arts in the city of Northampton. The Council awards grants twice each year to artists and arts groups from both state and locally-raised funds, and seeks to improve public awareness of the arts.
Its’ goals include maintaining and preserving the rich and diverse cultural heritage of Northampton, programming such annual events of interest to the community as First Night Northampton, Northampton Summer Concert Series, Transperformance, The Silver Chord Bowl, and Four Sundays in February, and advocating on behalf of the arts community.
Founded in 1980, the Northampton Arts Council has an all-volunteer board, and staff, consisting of a full-time executive director, a full-time arts events producer, and one half-tome production assistant.
In addition to administering the LCC program, The Northampton Arts Council was the first cultural council in the Commonwealth to raise money for a second round of funding every spring, with only a few other LCC’s following our lead. The ArtsEZ Spring Grant round is made possible by three major fundraising events produced by the Northampton Arts Council; first, Transperformance, an end-of-summer music festival at Look Park held every August, First Night Northampton, Northampton’s New Year’s Eve festival of the performing arts, and the Silver Chord Bowl, the legendary collegiate A capella invitational.
In addition to grant programs, the Northampton Arts Council helps to program arts enrichment programs in the public schools, initiates public art projects and advocates for the arts in the city. We also produce or help produce many other events and projects in Northampton including but not limited to KidsBestFest, Cinema Northampton, Western Massachusetts Visual and Poetry Biennial, administer the Paradise City Cultural District, appoint and fund Northampton’s Poet Laureate, and administer our own BJ Goodwin Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Contact
Brian Foote, Executive Director
arts@northamptonma.gov
413-587-1069
http://www.northamptonartscouncil.org/
Address
240 Main Street #1
Northampton, MA 01060-3113
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FY22 Allocation
$19,600
FY22 Local Priorities
Northampton Arts Council funds:
– Arts projects that include a public component, such as exhibits, festivals, short-term artist residencies, performances, workshops, readings, virtual presentations, and lectures held in Northampton, Florence or Leeds; this includes programming held in schools.
– Artists based in Northampton, Florence, and Leeds.
– Artists who reside in Massachusetts but whose project will be held in Northampton, Florence or Leeds. For individuals, “reside” does not mean they have to be a “legal resident” of Massachusetts as defined by the State for tax purposes. They simply need to reside in Massachusetts.
– Non-profit cultural and educational institutions that offer programs and events that bring arts to a Northampton area audience
– Work demonstrating the highest artistic merit.
– Projects that are financially feasible and have multiple sources of funding.
– If you are live streaming a public event, captions should be provided. In lieu of captions, you might consider having a message that says, “This event will be recorded and then embedded on our Youtube channel where captions and a transcript will be available.” Before putting on a virtual program, you could ask people to register, and in the registration submission, ask people to communicate any accessibility needs with a deadline by which they need to let you know. It is easier to book a captioner and cancel (with at least 48 hrs notice) than to get one in 48 hours.
– Also note: Schools, not artists, should apply for projects that take place in schools
The Council does NOT fund:
– Projects or events completed prior to applying.
– Fundraising or profit-making events that do not benefit the arts.
– Continuation funding for projects already awarded a grant from the Arts Council.
– More than one application by the same artist or cultural group.
– General operating support.
– Refreshments or food.
– Money to replace municipal funding for the arts.
Supplemental materials are required.
All of our local grant priorities and information are listed here.
Northampton is participating in the MCC’s Direct Grant Program. Approved grantees will receive their funding upfront and not on a reimbursement basis.
FY22 Local Guidelines
We are pleased that you are interested in applying to the Northampton Arts Council for funding.
For your convenience our application process and guidelines are available online at: http://www.northamptonartscouncil.org/p/grants.html
Contact us at 413-587-1069 or email us at admin@northamptonartscouncil.org if you need any help in preparing your application.
How Grant Recipients Are Paid
Direct Grants
