Westborough Cultural Council
Our mission is to support the cultural enrichment and creative opportunities that provide diversity and availability to all residents of our town.
Cultural life helps to define our community’s character and purpose and the Westborough Cultural Council’s efforts bring meaningful programs and events to Westborough that further promote Westborough as a thriving hub of activity in the Commonwealth.
As a community festival and as a means to raise local funds to support the arts and culture in Westborough, the Westborough Cultural Council created ARTS IN COMMON (AIC) a free town-wide arts event. AIC is an opportunity for the entire community to join together in celebration of art, music, dance, food and fun. The fifteenth anniversary of ARTS IN COMMON will be held on September 27, 2025 on Bay State Common in Westborough.
Contact
Michelle French
westboroculture@gmail.com
508-789-1934
Address
34 West Main Street
Westborough, MA 01581-1998
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Application Information
FY26 Allocation
$9,300
FY26 Local Priorities
We intend to encourage area performers and artisans of all ethnicities, religions, sexes and ages.
We will request public feedback to ensure the Cultural Council is effectively supporting the cultural needs of the community.
We will continue to request an appropriation from the Annual Town Meeting, not only for its spending power but as a further measure of community support.
We have found that town funding gives us validity when seeking other local support and sponsorships.
We will accept grant applications for events scheduled at a distinct location on a specific date in Westborough or, in the case of field trips, originating and terminating in Westborough.
Events must be advertised as open to the public and handicapped accessible.
It will be our objective to have sufficient funds to grant some support to every approved grant.
We also try to apply town funds to approved grants from Westborough-based organizations.
We will continue to encourage grant applications from new sources, but we will not turn down applications from groups that have had previous grants.
However, we will limit the number of consecutive years the Council funds a grant to ensure the grantee does not become dependent on Cultural Council funding to support their organization or event.
We will establish and maintain cordial relationships and advocacy with town governance, legislators and the MCC.
They will be invited to Council events, such as our grant reception and ARTS IN COMMON.
We will continue to market ARTS IN COMMON both as a popular community festival as well as a source of locally raised funds to support grants and cultural events in Westborough.
We will strive to maintain a membership of about a dozen volunteers and to include one or more high school students, both as links to that community and as civic responsibility trainees.
We will attend and monitor performances by grantees to determine their quality and fitness for future consideration.
We will develop and publicize a calendar of cultural events for the community.
FY26 Local Guidelines
Westborough Cultural Council rules for grant applicants assure direct benefit to the Westborough
community. The activity must take place in Westborough, be advertised and open to the public, and
must be handicap accessible. The venue and date must be scheduled before submitting the application.
Please refer to these guidelines. Applications must be completed online by the deadline
Applications are open to the following categories: individuals, private non-profit organizations,
unincorporated associations that can establish a non-profit objective, schools, libraries or other public
agencies, Religious organizations (with some restrictions), and the local cultural council itself. We intend
to encourage area performers and artisans of all ethnicities, religions, sexes and ages.
The Council encourages grant applications from new sources, but we will not turn down applications from
groups that have had previous grants. However, we will limit the number of consecutive years the Council
funds a grant to ensure the grantee does not become dependent on Cultural Council funding to support
their organization or event.
We will attend and monitor performances by grantees to determine their quality and fitness for future
consideration.
Eligibility
Application deadline. All applicants must submit completed applications online by the statewide
deadline. Late applications cannot be accepted.
Types of grants. A council may approve grants for projects, operating support, ticket subsidy
programs, artist residencies, field trips, fellowships or other activities, based on council priorities
and needs. Each LCC determines its own council priorities based on a community input process.
Program eligibility. Applicants may apply for grants for programs that take place during an 18
month window of eligibility between July 1, preceding the application deadline through December
31 of the following year. This means that applicants may apply for projects that have already
happened or which happen prior to Local Cultural Councils’ grant announcements, with the
knowledge that funding is not guaranteed. LCCs are authorized to establish a smaller window of
eligibility; if they do so, they must publish the eligible dates in their council priorities.
Applicant eligibility. Applicants must reside or be located in Massachusetts. The applicant, or
person leading the project /program, should have been engaged in the kind of activity for which
funds are requested for at least one year. Local Cultural Councils may accept applications from
anyone included in the list below.
● Individuals. Individual applicants must show that a public benefit results from the
project for which they are applying. A public presentation of an individual’s work may
provide the needed public benefit. Individual members of LCCs may apply for funding
from an LCC, but must observe all conflict of interest laws and regulations in the
granting process. LCCs may also establish their own guidelines regarding applications
from council members as long as these are consistent with the state’s conflict of
interest laws.
● Incorporated private nonprofit organizations. Nonprofit preschools, elementary
schools, middle schools and high schools are subject to the same criteria and
restrictions as public schools.
● Unincorporated associations that can establish a nonprofit objective. A group of
individuals coming together with a common purpose (e.g., local community band,
theater group) that do not have nonprofit status.
● Public schools, libraries, other municipal agencies and the local cultural council
itself.
● Religious organizations. Religious organizations or groups with a religious affiliation
are eligible to apply for funding of cultural programming that is available to the
general public. Religious schools are also eligible for LCC funding and are subject to
the same criteria and restrictions as public schools. LCCs can only approve
applications that are primarily cultural in their intent and do not have the effect of
advancing religion.
Criteria
The first three rules listed below must be followed in the review of all funding decisions by Local
Cultural Councils. All three rules are equally important. Additionally, councils have the option of
developing council priorities and may decide how to weigh their importance:
1. Arts, Humanities, and Interpretive Sciences
2. Public Benefit
3. Non-Discrimination
4. Local Criteria
Arts, Humanities, and Interpretive Sciences. LCC funds may only be used to support programs in
the arts, humanities, and sciences in Massachusetts. This definition includes the study, pursuit,
performance, exhibition, and appreciation of cultural activities in the broadest sense.
How does Mass Cultural Council define the arts, humanities, and sciences?
● Arts refer to the creation of work in the crafts and performing, visual, media, folk,
design, literary, and inter-disciplinary arts. In addition, they also include the
presentation and preservation of, and education about works in these disciplines.
● Humanities are types of learning that deal with human values and aspirations, human
thought and culture, language, and creativity. Examples include, but are not limited
to, history, social studies, philosophy, criticism, and literature.
● Sciences are types of learning that deal with nature, science, and technology in ways
that explain how they relate to people’s lives. Some organizations that conduct this
type of activity include aquariums, botanical gardens, nature centers, natural history
museums, planetariums, and science centers.
Public Benefit. LCC funds must be used to support activities that contribute to the cultural vitality
of the community as a whole, rather than benefiting any private individual or group; however, this
does not mean that a large crowd of people needs to participate in order to satisfy the public
bbenefit requirement. Whenever possible, activities funded by LCCs should be available to the
general public by exhibit, performance, demonstration, reading, or other means.
Non-Discrimination. In accordance with state law, LCCs may not discriminate against applicants
on the basis of race, gender, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, disability, sexual
orientation or age, nor may they fund projects that discriminate on the basis of these attributes.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that persons with disabilities have access to
public programs or services on an equal basis with the rest of the general public. Furthermore,
federal law mandates that any programs or service that receives federal or state funding must be
accessible to persons with disabilities. Therefore, all events and programs funded by the LCCs
must be accessible to persons with disabilities, including the facility or event location as well as
the content of the program. See our Accessibility Guide for a background and ideas about how to
ensure that your projects can still take place while being accessible.
Local Criteria. LCCs are authorized to develop additional council priorities and may give different
weight to their criteria in order to reflect local concerns and community cultural needs. Because
LCC funding is not intended to be used as the sole source of funding for projects of a continuing
nature, LCCs are encouraged to formulate local policies regarding matching funding or funding
limits over time in order to ensure that funding remains broadly available to the widest range of
community cultural needs. Council priorities are posted on a Council’s profile on the MCC website.
Grant Restrictions
Refreshments. Grant funds received from an LCC may not be used to purchase food or beverages.
Scholarships. Although individual students are not eligible to apply for scholarships, an
organization may apply to an LCC to sponsor a scholarship, provided it shows evidence of an open
and fair review and award process. The applicant organization must also ensure a public benefit
component in which the award recipient “gives back” to the community in the form of a lecture,
master class, exhibit, performance, etc.
How Grant Recipients Are Paid
Reimbursement Grants
FY25 Funding List
| Name | Project Title | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Annie E. Fales School | Dancing in Each Other's Shoes | $1,450 | Annie E. Fales School | How Music Works: The Science of Sound | $1,245 | Assabet Valley Mastersingers, Inc. | Community Sings | $1,000 | Bates III, Davis R. | Under One Sky: Songs & Stories for All Ages | $300 | Black/Interboro Community Band, Barbara | Winter Concert | $550 | Cochran, Bonnie | Of Air & Sea | $1,125 | Crocodile River Music, Inc | Crocodile River Music at Arts in Common 2025 | $1,500 | Kane, Timothy D. | Drums & Strums | $450 | Kirouac, Daniel | folk-rock concert for Council on Aging | $450 | Lappen, Henry | Henry the Juggler Performance | $450 | McKenney Lydick, Lynne | To My Dearest: The Civil War Letters of George and Emily Ward | $499 | Metrowest Symphony Orchestra, Inc. | Summer Strings Community Music Making | $400 | Northborough Area Community Chorus Inc | "All That & Jazz" - NACC Spring Concert | $500 | Parnes, Janet | The Unsung Heroine Behind the New Deal (Part 1) | $375 | Rockin' the Boroughs | Top Hits from This Magic Moment | $600 | Shir Joy Chorus | Sing with Joy! Shir Joy | $1,000 | Waterman, Jon | Live Music Making History Live | $400 | Westborough Community Chorus, Inc. | Spring Show | $750 | Westborough Community Land Trust, Inc. | Animal Adventures: Meet Local Wildlife! | $1,035 | Westborough Connects, Inc. | 7th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration | $500 | Women of Note, Inc. | In Harmony Against Hunger Concert and World Singing Day Gathering | $445 | York, Matt | Matt York - Songs & Stories: Holiday Concert | $500 |
Review Complete LCC Program Guidelines
