DALTON, Mass. — The Dalton Cultural Council is in need of new members, especially by Oct. 16. 

 

The council last met in February, and meetings stopped when prior members resigned en masse over the town's firing of the chair. The only remaining original member is Mary Ferrell. 

 

The council aims to improve residents' quality of life by promoting access, education, and diversity in the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences.

 

One of its primary functions is reviewing and allocating grant applications for funds by the state Cultural Council. 

 

In order to meet the membership threshold set by the state Cultural Council, the council needs to have at least five members. Currently, there are only two: Jeannie Ingram and Ferrell.

 

It is unknown whether Executive Assistant Lori Venezia can be a voting member. 

 

If the council is unable to get enough members it will have to evaluate whether it can partner with other cultural councils in the surrounding towns. 

 

"It would be awesome if that didn’t have to happen … because then we lose the localness of it … right now, if it stays in Dalton, just us, we know we're going to give to Dalton," Ferrell said. 

 

Although a regional cultural council could receive increased funding from the state, it would also attract many more applications because of the additional cultural organizations the council would cover.

 

"We'd be making decisions with other towns for multiple grant applications, so it wouldn't be just a focus on Dalton anymore," Venezia said. 

 

Being a councilor requires attending approximately one-hour meetings each month, particularly from October through January, when they review grant applications. 

 

A lot of local artists don't have a lot of resources, and depend on these funds to support the programs they deliver. 

 

"I think it's probably unknown how many programs actually are funded through the MCC, so I think it's important to keep that stream going forward through our local Cultural Council," Venezia said. 

 

The Cultural Council wants to gather feedback from the community and create incentives that increase community involvement in town, members said. 

 

The state Cultural Council emphasizes the importance of understanding community perspectives and desires, Ingram said. 

 

Councilors want to increase community representation, ensuring that a wide range of voices and interests are included in their activities. 

 

They hope to foster inclusion, positivity, and optimism, and to help build a stronger sense of community in Dalton through arts and cultural programming.

 

Prior councilors did a good job doing that, especially with the development of Dalton Day, Ingram said.

 

This year the town was unable to hold Dalton Day because the council spearheads its planning. Many community members have expressed how they missed the event, Ferrell said. "It really takes a lot of people to do the Dalton Day event … so, we really need to have more engagement."

 

If the council is able to get more members, they can explore planning Dalton Day and other local events. 

 

Community members have a wide variety of backgrounds and interests and with these different perspectives, they want to find ways to get more community involvement and more community feedback, they said. 

 

For more information email jeannie.ingram@gmail.com. Committee interest form here. Those interested can email the form to Venezia at lvenezia@dalton-ma.gov.