HYANNIS – The Mid-Cape Cultural Council announced more than $11,000 in grant funding to nearly two-dozen recipients in Barnstable and Yarmouth.
The council is part of a statewide network of Local Cultural Councils that supports thousands of community-based projects in the arts, sciences, and humanities every year.
Grants support a wide range of grass-roots activities including concerts, exhibitions, theater, radio and video productions, school field trips, after school programs, historical preservation efforts, lectures, nature and science education programs, and town festivals.
The state legislature provides an annual appropriation to the Mass Cultural Council which then allocates funds to each community.
Decisions about which activities to support are made at the community level by a board of municipally appointed volunteers.
“The heartbeat of Cape Cod’s vibrant communities lies in our culture and arts,” said State Senator Julian Cyr (D-Truro). “The grants released today will fuel cultural offerings across the Mid-Cape, helping to stretch limited resources and expand the reach of these volunteer-led endeavors.”
Barnstable Town Councilor Jessica Rapp-Grassetti said the local volunteers on the Mid-Cape Cultural Council make the system work.
“They make limited resources go as far as possible, and they make the tough decisions about which projects should be supported,” Rapp-Grassetti said. “Thanks to them, the arts, sciences, and humanities are part of people’s everyday lives in our community.”
This year’s MCCCgrants include:
Alzheimer’s Family Support Center of Cape Cod – Arts and Ideas
Cape Cod Art Center – Children’s Anti-Litter Poster Contest
Cape Cod Child Development – Theater for School Age Children
Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance – Documenting Fishing Culture: A Multimedia Experience
Cape Cod Museum of Art – Creative Outlets: Finding Your Voice Through Arts
Cape Cod Museum Trail – Festival of Museums
Cape Conservatory – Jazz in the Schools
Coast Guard Heritage Museum – Film Celebrating Early Coast Guard History on Cape Cod
Cotuit Library – A Universe of Songs and Stories
Cultural Center of Cape Cod – Rise and Shine
Denya LeVine – Multi-Cultural Music for Children Under Five
Handel and Haydn Society – H+H Karen S. and George D. Levy Education Program
Jacek Zuzanski – Puppet Show: Rumpelstiltskin
John F. Kennedy Hyannis Museum – Interactive Exhibits
M.E. Small Elementary School – After-school Music Enrichment
Mid-Cape Cultural Council – Bass River Constellation Project
Scott Jameson – April School Vacation Week Magic & Juggling
Song Keepers, Ltd. – Hip Hop Jazz Theatre
Taylor-Bray Farm Preservation Association – Farmhouse Exhibit Room Project
Yarmouth Port Library – Before the 400th Anniversary of the Pilgrims
Yarmouth New Church Preservation Foundation – Americana: A New Voice for a New Nation
Statewide, more than $3.3 million will be distributed by local cultural councils in 2019. Nearly half of LCC funds support educational activities for young people.