Southbridge Cultural Council
Our mission is to support diversified programs in the arts, humanities and interpretive sciences for the cultural benefit and well being of the citizens of Southbridge, first and foremost.
Contact
Ted Bartlett
margbart@yahoo.com
508-764-7909
Address
Southbridge Town Hall
41 Elm Street
Southbridge, MA 01550-2645
Application Information
FY26 Allocation
TBD
FY26 Local Priorities
FY25 Southbridge Priorities: The Southbridge Cultural Council priorities for new applications include (with no order of importance) the following categories: Southbridge applicants (individuals), agencies, religious groups, and applicants from other parts of the state are all considered with the same criteria restrictions of MCC and that of Southbridge as well for publicity compliance.
FY26 Local Guidelines
New applicants, art forms or humanities that are under-represented in the community, and any applicants with projects interested in promoting cultural diversity in the community are all considered. All applicants must FIRST read, understand, and follow the MCC and SCC criteria requirements before completing the online FY25 application.
Location and Venue: The activity must take place in Southbridge. The VENUE and DATE must be confirmed BEFORE submission of the online application to Boston, MA. In all instances, a change of venue date of the grant event requires a written project modification letter MAILED to the Southbridge Cultural Council for prior approval before the project takes place. The required address is the letterhead of the grant acceptance letter of January 2025. NO EMAILS are accepted since this request is date and time stamped when received at the Southbridge Town Hall. All events must be open to the general public, and the venue handicapped accessible for participation of the event or program.
Marketing and Promotion: The event must be promoted according to the criteria requirements of MCC and SCC. Refer to the complete Grant Acceptance Letter/Packet of January 2025, which has all the information for compliance of your grant contract. The Southbridge Cultural Council and Mass Cultural Council strongly advocate using the required MCC recognition statement found in the Acceptance Letter for your publicity of flyers, news releases, social media, and other promo materials. While the MCC logo is useful, when used alone, it tends to eliminate the specific community cultural support you are in with your event. This is the reason why you received the grant. While social media is acceptable, the SCC favors news releases especially to the local newspaper once a week issue on Thursday (Southbridge News, Editor, P.O. Box 90, Southbridge MA 01550 and to the Southbridge Cable Access TV, 41 Elm Street, Town Hall, Southbridge, MA 01550). Both should be mailed about 3 weeks before the date of the event. ( One Fy24 grantee was featured 3 weeks in the newspaper). The individual of the group responsible for the grant event’s publicity must be made aware of all MCC and SCC criteria for publicity compliance for the grant. The grant recipient should not rely solely on the host venue for publicity. As the recipient of the grant funding contract, the grantee is responsible for doing publicity.
Reimbursements: The Southbridge Cultural Council participates in the Reimbursement of Grants form of procedure after the event with all the required criteria documentation. Please use the SCC-assigned grant number noted in the Acceptance Letter for reimbursement. ALL publicity published copies of news releases, social media copies, copies of flyers, programs, tickets, proof of performance invoice etc., must be included with the requested payment. Reimbursement is valid for one year from the date of the grant acceptance letter. The reimbursement process, as noted in the online application, may take 3 to 4 weeks before a check is issued. Failure to submit the required documentation may cause an additional delay in payment or some forfeiture portion of full payment.
Public Benefit: MCC and SCC funds must be used to support activities that contribute to the cultural vitality of the community rather than benefiting any private individual or group, as noted in the 2025 MCC Guidelines, PAGE 11.
Field Trip Applications: The Southbridge Cultural Council accepts the standard online MCC application form for field trips. The field trip criteria are the same as regular applications. The SCC with discretion funds only a portion of the student admission.
How Grant Recipients Are Paid
Reimbursement Grants
FY25 Funding List
| Name | Project Title | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Alicea Tilton, Kathleen | Ed The Wizard - Multigenerational Magic Show | $400 | Alicea Tilton, Kathleen | Pottery Wheel Demo w/Hands-On Pinch Pot | $349 | Alicea Tilton, Kathleen | Soap Attack - Soap Making | $425 | Alicea Tilton, Kathleen | Lizzie Borden and the 40 Whacks | $600 | Alicea Tilton, Kathleen | Winter Wildlife Tracking Program | $215 | Arakelian, Garine | D. E. A. R. - Duckies Excited About Reading | $425 | Back Room Boston, Inc. | Ezekiel's Wheels Klezmer Band at the Jacob Edwards Library | $1,200 | Bent, Mike | AbraKidabra! 2025 Summer Reading Magic Show | $425 | Bridges, Audie | Betty's Bounce - Jazz | $700 | Burpee, Alexandra | The Zoo Show | $500 | Crocodile River Music, Inc | Jacob Edwards Library Juneteenth Event | $1,000 | Crowes Pasture | Contemporary Folk Music Concert | $550 | Ethnic Arts Center of Somerville, Inc. | Paper Bag Puppet Family-Our Southbridge Legacy | $1,000 | Gateway Players Theatre, Inc. | Fiddler on the Roof | $1,000 | Gateway Players Theatre, Inc. | Plaza Suite | $800 | Hamelin, Richard L. | Patriots and Potters. | $400 | Harrington, Noah E. | Acoustic Nomads | $1,000 | Havens, Leslie | Concert by Quintessential Brass | $1,400 | Jacob Edwards Library | Carlos Odria Trio | $800 | Jacob Edwards Library | Southbridge My Triggering Town | $750 | Kenney, Seema-Jayne | Working with Census Reports | $175 | Lappen, Henry | Henry the Juggler Performance | $400 | Larget-Caplan, Aaron | Music of the East & West | $600 | Manning, James J. | Balloons, Books and Magic | $500 | McDonough, John | Library Puppet Show | $300 | Nault, Bridget | Badger & Nault | $250 | Richards, Raianne | Community Concert with Mark Mandeville & Raianne Richards | $600 | Sateriale, George | The Magic of Your Imagination | $300 | Shawna E. Shea Memorial Foundation, Inc. | Free UnderGround Thursday Movie Screenings | $250 | Shoup, Lynda | Making Junque Journals | $375 | Silvia, Elizabeth | The Catnip Junkies Live at the Library | $1,300 | Tran, Anthony | Flamenco Performance | $1,000 | Willson, Michelle | Michelle Willson and the Evil Gal Festival Orchestra | $1,000 |
