Birdhouse fundraiser to benefit Arts Council

Date: 12/8/2010

Dec. 8, 2010

By Katelyn Gendron

Assistant Editor

WEST SPRINGFIELD -- Members of the West Springfield Arts Council (WESPAC) are struggling to maintain adequate funding for cultural programming in town. Funding from the Massachusetts Cultural Council has decreased by 37 percent each year for the past four years, granting them only $8,250 this fiscal year.

However, WESPAC will not be derailed by the ever-decreasing funding. Instead, they're trying to make up the difference with their own fundraisers. The Birdhouse Project, an annual sale of 24 wooden birdhouses designed by local artists through Dec. 21, is one such moneymaker.

"It's very distressing," Clark said of the cuts to WESPAC's state funding. "We're trying to find new ways to make money."

Requests for grant funding from WESPAC reached $22,000 this year, she noted, adding that the group was only able to fund 24 grants totaling $9,790.

"We try to fund groups that are under-served. We try to fund the children and elderly first. We cut every [grant application] by the same percentage to make it fair," Clark explained.

Most of the grant applications were only "partially funded," she noted. This year's grants included those for the Council on Aging (COA), the Jewish Film Festival and West Springfield Public Schools.

"Every amount helps us expand and promote our programming here," Laurie Cassidy, executive director of the COA, said. The COA received a $600 grant from WESPAC to partially fund its three-month series, "Improving Hearts Through the Arts."

The series will provide musical performances, educational materials and emphasis on healthy living from February to April.

Clark noted the importance of such programming for all those in West Springfield and hopes that more can be funded in the coming fiscal years in addition to WESPAC's scholarship for art students.

The "Birdhouse Project" is on display at West Springfield Public Library, 200 Park St., until Dec. 21.