Legislators Talk, Walk Cultural Facilities Funding
 Recipients of this round of Cultural Facilities Fund grants pose with MCC Executive Director Anita Walker, right. Last year's story here. |
Members of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts, and Cultural Development as well as local officials joined the Massachusetts Cultural Council for this year's awardees of the Cultural Facilities Fund at a reception at the Berkshire Museum prior to its hearing.
"I've never seen a group of people given so little do so much with it," said committee co-Chairwoman Rep. Cory Atkins, who extolled the economic yield of such funding.
Atkins said that in the last six years, Cultural Facilities allocations have lead to more than 10,000 construction jobs. While these may be temporary, Atkins said the grants lead to an estimated 1,500 permanent jobs associated with or generated by these projects.
"That's important to legislators, because jobs are really front and center on the agenda," Atkins told a crowd that included administrators of some two dozen cultural organizations.
Out of 18 recipients from the fund in the western part of the state this year, 10 are in Berkshire County. These include Berkshire Carousel, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Clark Art Institute, Jacob's Pillow, Naumkeag, The Mount, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Norman Rockwell Museum, Saint James Place and Topia Arts Center.
"We are at an interesting juncture with the Cultural Facilities Fund. In the last five years, we have invested $55 million in the cultural facilities all across the commonwealth," said Anita Walker, director of the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
The fund is paid out of a five-year capital bond that must now be renewed.
Walker encouraged attendees from the cultural venues to continue be vocal to their legislators, including Sen. Benjamin Downing, Reps. William "Smitty" Pignatelli and Paul Mark, who both serve on the tourism committee, and Reps. Gail Cariddi and Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, who were both in attendance.
"Please do not take your role in the budget lightly," Farley-Bouvier agreed, crediting effective lobbying by the arts sector for the recent restoration of $1.6 million in MCC funding in the fiscal 2014 budget, bringing its funding back up nearly to pre-2009 levels.
Following the morning's meetings, members of the committee perused more of the Berkshire Museum before heading next door to the Colonial Theatre. Both facilities are past recipients of grants from the fund, as are Chesterwood and the Norman Rockwell Museum, which the entourage visited later in the afternoon.
At the Colonial Theatre, which underwent a massive restoration in 2006 to reopen as a major performance venue, Berkshire Theatre Group Director Kate McGuire demonstrated unique features of the building and the continued work that has gone into its ongoing renovation.
McGuire even lead the delegation into an undeveloped section of the property, a back portion of the former Berkshire Auto Garage, which the company hopes to renovate for additional programming.
"I just wanted you all to see this," said McGuire, "Because we'll be coming to some of you soon."
"Often a lot of legislators don't get a chance to go out and see and really understand the power of the work that you all do," said Atkins.
Cultural Facilities Fund Awards:
| Organization | Grant Category | Grant Amount | City |
| Berkshire Carousel | Capital | $250,000 | Lanesborough |
| Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival | Capital | $122,563 | Becket |
| MCLA | Feasibility & Tech Assistance | $30,000 | North Adams |
| Norman Rockwell Museum | Capital | $172,750 | Stockbridge |
| Saint James Place | Feasibility & Tech Assistance | $22,500 | Great Barrington |
| Topia Arts Center | Feasibility & Tech Assistance | $22,132 | Adams |
| Trustees of Reservations | Capital | $128,002 | Stockbridge |
| Edith Wharton Restoration | Capital | $77,500 | Lenox |
| Boston Symphony Orchestra | Capital | $141,868 | Lenox |
| Clark Art Institute | Capital | $250,000 | Williamstown |
Tags: cultural grants, Mass Cultural Council, MCC,
