Berkshire Organizations Awarded Cultural Council Grants

08:06AM / Monday, December 09, 2024Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Mass Cultural Council awarded $7.2 Million to 394 nonprofit cultural organizations statewide for operating support, many from Berkshire County.

This funding provides unrestricted operating support to the recipients through two programs, Operating Grants for Organizations and the Cultural Investment Portfolio.

In Berkshire County:

Adams

Susan B. Anthony Birthplace Museum: $9,000

Great Barrington

Center for Peace Through Culture: $14,700
The Du Bois Freedom Center: $9,000

Lenox

Ventfort Hall Association: $15,300

Pittsfield

Berkshire Film and Media Collaborative: $9,000
Kids 4 Harmony: $12,200
Roots Rising: $9,100

As the Commonwealth’s independent state arts agency, Mass Cultural Council is charged with bolstering the creative and cultural sector, thereby advancing economic vitality, supporting transformational change, and celebrating, preserving, and inspiring creativity across all Massachusetts communities.

Mass Cultural Council has long provided unrestricted operating support to cultural organizations through the Cultural Investment Portfolio. First launched in 2009, this program provides multi-year grants to cultural nonprofit organizations that provide public programs in the arts, sciences, and humanities. Following the adoption of the Agency’s new equity plans in 2021, the Agency paused applications to conduct a review of the program.

The result of this review was the decision to sunset the Cultural Investment Portfolio and launch a new organizational support grant program for cultural nonprofits, Operating Grants for Organizations.

In designing Operating Grants for Organizations, the Agency solicited feedback from key stakeholders and the cultural sector at large to ensure that the values that are important to grantees would be maintained, while also centering equity in the evaluation and program revisions.

FY25 is the first round of investment through Operating Grants for Organizations.

Mass Cultural Council is awarding unrestricted operating support to 56 more organizations in FY25 than FY24. In total, 155 organizations will receive funding through the Operating Grants for Organizations program, in addition to 239 organizations that will continue to receive funding through the Cultural Investment Portfolio.

Funding lists detailing the organizations receiving FY25 support from Operating Grants for Organizations and the Cultural Investment Portfolio are available online.

In this first round of Operating Grants for Organizations, when reviewing the 155 grantees, Mass Cultural Council notes that:

129 are receiving operating support from Mass Cultural Council for the first time
54 are BIPOC-Centered Organizations
66 voluntarily participate in the Card to Culture Program

Organizations receiving awards from the Operating Grant for Organizations program expressed support for the new program.

Tags: Mass Cultural Council,

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Pittsfield Housing Project Adds 37 Supportive Units and Collective Hope

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:01PM / Monday, December 29, 2025

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— A new chapter in local efforts to combat housing insecurity officially began as community leaders and residents gathered at The First on to celebrate a major expansion of supportive housing in the city.

The ribbon was cut on Thursday Dec. 19, on nearly 40 supportive permanent housing units; nine at The First, located within the Zion Lutheran Church, and 28 on West Housatonic Street. The Housing Resource Center, funded by Pittsfield's American Rescue Plan Act dollars, hosted a celebration for a project that is named for its rarity: The First.

"What got us here today is the power of community working in partnership and with a shared purpose," Hearthway CEO Eileen Peltier said.

In addition to the 28 studio units at 111 West Housatonic Street and nine units in the rear of the church building, the Housing Resource Center will be open seven days a week with two lounges, a classroom, a laundry room, a bathroom, and lockers.

Erin Forbush, ServiceNet's director of shelter and housing, challenged attendees to transform the space in the basement of Zion Lutheran Church into a community center. It is planned to operate from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. year-round.

"I get calls from folks that want to help out, and our shelters just aren't the right spaces to be able to do that. The First will be that space that we can all come together and work for the betterment of our community," Forbush said.

"…I am a true believer that things evolve, and things here will evolve with the people that are utilizing it."

Earlier that day, Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus joined Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll and her team in Housatonic to announce $33.5 million in federal Community Development Block Grant funding, $5.45 million to Berkshire County.

He said it was ambitious to take on these two projects at once, but it will move the needle. The EOHLC contributed more than $7.8 million in subsidies and $3.4 million in low-income housing tax credit equity for the West Housatonic Street build, and $1.6 million in ARPA funds for the First Street apartments.

"We're trying to get people out of shelter and off the streets, but we know there are a lot of people who are couch surfing, who are living in their cars, who are one paycheck away from being homeless themselves," Augustus said.

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