50 Groups Get Small Grants To Benefit Waltham's Cultural Scene

WALTHAM, MA — The Mayor’s Office and the Waltham Cultural Council awarded grants to 50 organizations totaling $44,006, or about $880 per grant, for cultural programs in Waltham this year.

The state legislature provides an annual appropriation to the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency, which then allocates funds to each community. In 2019, the Waltham City Council voted in favor of the mayor’s proposal to increase the municipal contribution and will now plan to allocate $20,000 annually to help support more robust cultural opportunities for its residents.

The Waltham Cultural Council (a six person board) is part of a network of more than 300 local cultural councils serving cities and towns across the commonwealth. The program boasts it is the largest grassroots cultural funding network in the nation, supporting thousands of community-based projects in the arts, sciences and humanities every year.

Statewide, more than $3.3 million will be distributed by local cultural councils in 2020. Grants will support a range of grass-roots activities from concerts, exhibitions, radio and video productions, to field trips for school children, after-school youth programs, writing workshops, historical preservation efforts and lectures. The funds have also helped support First Night celebrations, nature and science education programs for families, and town festivals.

Nearly half of the funds support educational activities for young people.

The city appoints a board of volunteers to decide which activities to support. The members of the Waltham Cultural Council are: Rosemary Harbeson, Elizabeth Moy, Brad Pielech, Scott Schurr, Consuelo Valdes and Antoinette Winters.