Maudslay Arts Center is awarded Mass Cultural Council pandemic recovery grant
February 22, 2023February 22, 2023
Press Release
Maudslay Arts Center is awarded Mass Cultural Council pandemic recovery grant
Maudslay Arts Center was awarded $7,500 as part of an historic investment of state COVID relief funds, which will support thousands of cultural organizations and creative individuals living and working in Massachusetts.
Mass Cultural Council recently announced a $51,063,360 public investment into the Commonwealth’s creative and cultural sector with 5,218 recipients of two pandemic recovery grant programs at the Massachusetts State House.
“This is the largest grant announcement Mass Cultural Council has ever made,” said Michael J. Bobbitt, Executive Director, Mass Cultural Council. “It is with great pleasure and pride that we celebrate more than $51 million in pandemic recovery monies being equitably distributed throughout the creative and cultural sector today. These awards will help propel the sector forward economically and chart the recipients’ paths towards growth.”
“This grant is a head start towards getting our program back to normal after COVID,” MAC Executive Director Nicholas C. Costello said. “It will help us continue to bring wonderful entertainment back to the area.”
Maudslay Arts Center, Inc. was established in 1992, as a nonprofit organization working in a public/private partnership with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to provide a cultural center for the cities and towns of the Merrimack Valley, the North Shore, and beyond.
“We have been a valued member of the community for 30 years serving underserved communities as well as well-served communities,” Costello said. “We encourage the cultural enrichment of all of our local communities by creating and providing vibrant program offerings to enhance education in, and enjoyment of, the arts.
“We believe that our communities need access to quality, affordable cultural experiences. Many devotees describe Maudslay Arts Center as a ‘mini Tanglewood’ and a ‘jewel in the crown’ of the state parks system.”
Mass Cultural Council, an independent state arts agency, is charged with bolstering the Commonwealth’s creative and cultural sector. The Agency’s efforts advance economic vitality, support transformational change; and celebrate, preserve, and inspire creativity across all Massachusetts communities.
In December 2021 a $4 billion pandemic recovery package was approved by the Legislature and signed into law. This Act directed Mass Cultural Council to develop and administer grant programs to assist cultural organizations and artists recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and operate more efficiently moving forward. Mass Cultural Council received $60.1 million in surplus state revenue funds to support this effort.
The Cultural Sector Recovery Grants for Organizations program offered unrestricted grants, ranging from $5,000 to $75,000 to Massachusetts cultural organizations, collectives, and businesses negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mass Cultural Council received 1,359 applications to this program, of which 1,218 were deemed eligible and recommended to receive funding. A total of $31,063,360 in pandemic assistance was awarded to these organizations today.
“I am thrilled to note that 42 percent of these cultural organizations are receiving their very first Mass Cultural Council award today,” said Bobbitt, “And, even more exciting, is the fact that every eligible organization who applied was approved to receive an award from this program.”
For more information contact Maudslay Art Center.
