Berkshire Cultural Organizations Awarded Grants

08:18AM / Tuesday, March 17, 2026Print Story | Email Story

BOSTON — Mass Cultural Council today announced that 51 nonprofit and municipal performing arts centers across the Commonwealth will receive a total of $3,568,500 through the Fiscal Year 2026 Gaming Mitigation Fund grant program.

In Berkshire County:

Barrington Stage Company, Pittsfield: $8,8000
Freshgrass Public Foundation, Williamstown: $71,000
Guthrie Center, Great Barrington: $6,000
Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Becket: $105,000
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Great Barrington: $56,500
Williamstown Theatre Festival, Williamstown: $14,200

"Mass Cultural Council is proud to support our performing arts centers and the communities they serve," said David T. Slatery, Acting Executive Director, Mass Cultural Council. "These organizations are vibrant cultural anchors and powerful economic drivers. This funding ensures they can continue to attract exceptional touring performances, expand access to high-quality arts experiences, and strengthen local economies across Massachusetts."

Now in the second year of a two-year grant cycle, all FY26 recipients previously applied for and received funding through the program in FY25. Individual grant awards this year range from $6,000 to $200,000.

As directed by statute, Mass Cultural Council receives 2 percent of state casino tax revenues to administer the program. The Gaming Mitigation Fund is specifically designed to mitigate the direct competitive impact of casinos, which often operate with larger entertainment budgets and expanded amenities, and preserve the sustainability of nonprofit and municipal performing arts venues throughout the Commonwealth.

Since its launch six years ago, the Gaming Mitigation Fund has invested more than $20 million in over 90 organizations statewide.

Tags: Mass Cultural Council,

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EPA, GE Conducting Vernal Pool Study on Housatonic River

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
11:44AM / Tuesday, August 11, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A pilot study will determine the best way to remediate PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, from vernal pools in the Housatonic River.

Last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and General Electric held an open house for the Vernal Pool Pilot Study on Reach 5A, a five-mile stretch between the river's confluence and Lenox border. Despite the rain, several people attended the event at the Berkshire Athenaeum.

EPA project manager Josh Fontaine explained that it is an evaluation of which remediation method to use for the remaining vernal pools in Reach 5A.

"We're going to be testing two different methods. One is an excavation method, which we already know has been very successful with another vernal pool cleaned up much earlier in the project," he said.

"And then the other is the application of two different carbon amendments. It would be the application of powdered activated carbon and the application of granulated activated carbon."

Ten vernal pools will be cleaned using these methods: five with excavation and five with active carbon; seven additional vernal pools will be monitored as controls. Construction will be complete around October, but the pools will be left to their natural processes and monitored with surveys and sampling for three years.

Fontaine said there is no frontrunner for methodology.

"We know the excavation method is effective, but we would like to see if the less invasive method of using the amendment will be as effective for potential use," he said.

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