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Cultural councils offer grant funding

Date: 10/3/2012

By Carley Dangona

carley@thereminder.com

BOSTON — State Sen. Michael Knapik announced on Sept. 13 the grant amounts from the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) for the local cultural councils in the 2nd Hampden and Hampshire districts.

Among the recipients were the Westfield Cultural Council (WCC) with an award of $14,540 and the Southwick Cultural Council (SCC) with an allotment of $3,870.

"The arts are a proven vehicle in bringing economic development, education and new vibrancy to our local communities," Knapik stated. "These programs engage citizens of all ages and I am proud to support such important investments in our quality-of-life programs."

The goal of these grants is to fund cultural enrichment programs to the community in the areas of the arts, humanities and interpretive sciences, which is defined by the MCC as learning from nature, science in general and technology that applies to everyday living.

"These grants are very much appreciated," James Homan, chair of the WCC, said. "Our goal is to cover as many programs as possible to spread the wealth.

"The money can fund a multitude of projects from sculptures to discussions. [When the WCC evaluates the applications], they consider the audience of the programs and the multi-cultural aspects that will be brought to the community," he continued.

The WCC is accepting applications for grants, which must be postmarked by Oct. 15 and cannot be hand-delivered. Applications are available at www.mass-culture.org/westfield.

Ellen Miles, member and manager of Public Relations for the SCC, explained the goal of these grants. "Every year when we look at these grants, we try to do something new," she said. "We want to hit every aspect of culture [with the programs they provide] to bring new, different, and inspiring events to the community.

"This year we funded nine programs. Previous grants have enabled the SCC to offer concerts, art exhibitions and field trips for school children, in addition to many other programs," she continued.

The SCC is also currently accepting grant applications for 2013 from individual, organizations and schools until Oct. 15.

Applications are available at Southwick Town Hall in the Town Clerk's office and at the Southwick Public Library. Applications may also be downloaded from www.massculturalcouncil.org/applications/lccapp.html.

For more information, contact SCC Chair Susan Kochanski at 569-0946.

For guidelines regarding the grant program, visit www.massculturalcouncil.org/applications/lccguidelines.pdf.

For further information about the WCC, go to http://www.cityofwestfield.org/?page_id=7536. For more details about the SCC, go to www.southwickma.org/Public_Documents/SouthwickMA_BComm/cultural.