Fall River receives over $130,000 in cultural grants, see if your favorites made the list

State Representative Carole Fiola, House Chair on the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development, and Richard R Pelletier, chair of the Fall River Cultural Council, have announced the award of 34 grants totaling $130,992, for cultural programs in Fall River.

The Fall River Cultural Council is part of a network of 329 Local Cultural Councils serving all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth. The LCC Program is the largest grassroots cultural funding network in the nation, supporting thousands of community-based projects in the arts, sciences, and humanities every year. The state legislature provides an annual appropriation to the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency, which then allocates funds to each community.

Decisions about which activities to support are made at the community level by a board of municipally appointed volunteers. The members of the Fall River Cultural Council are: Christopher Antao, Donald P. Corriveau, Susan C. Cote, Richard R. Pelletier, Joseph Rioux, and Donna Valente.

“Congratulations to this round of recipients! Fall River is home to so many wonderful artists and cultural institutions,” stated Representative Fiola, “Funding for Arts and Culture are vital to keeping our communities thriving. I am thrilled to see our community continually invested in and to see so many of our cultural district thrive”.

Statewide, more than $4 million will be distributed by local cultural councils in 2021. Grants will support an enormous range of grass-roots activities: concerts, exhibitions, radio and video productions, field trips for schoolchildren, after-school youth programs, writing workshops, historical preservation efforts, lectures, First Night celebrations, nature and science education programs for families and town festivals. Nearly half of LCC funds support educational activities for young people.

The Fall River Cultural Council will seek applications again in the fall. For guidelines and complete information on the Fall River Cultural Council, contact Richard R. Pelletier at 508-678-1840 and fallriverculturalcouncil@comcast.net. Applications and more information about the Local Cultural Council Program are available online at www.mass-culture.org.

This year’s grants include: Alan Johnson, Antone Henriques, Barney Zeitz, Cambodian American Rescue Organization, Inc., Charles Boucher, Colonial Navy of Massachusetts, Creative Arts Network Inc., Dana Barnes, Dr. “THE MACHINE” Jesse Green, Gnome Surf, Greater Fall River Symphony Orchestra, Gregory Maichack, Jacek Zuzanski (2), Jared Katsiane, Jim Manning, John Root, Kirk Whipple, Linda Mercer Botelho, Little Theatre of Fall River, Marquee Theatre Productions, Inc., Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild, Inc, MUSIC Dance.edu, Narrows Center for the Arts, Old Colony History Museum, On Stage Theatrical Productions,Inc., Practice Best Practice, Ron Caplain, Scott Jameson, Timothy Kane, Towne House Clubhouse – Fellowship Health Resources, Vania Noverca Viveiros, Vincent Lovegrove (2).