Fully Fund MCC's $17 Million Budget

A timely message from Anita Walker, Massachusetts Cultural Council Executive Director.
Please take a moment to contact your representative or senator. Tell them you not only want the amount cut restoured you support FULLY FUNDING the "$17 million that we have built into our five-year plan."

Dear Colleagues, I wanted to take a moment to reach out to you as we reach the midpoint of the process that will deliver an FY17 budget to the MCC. I know that there is a good deal of anxiety and disappointment at where we stand right now. It may feel like your advocacy efforts are not effective. But in fact, your vigorous advocacy convinced more than 100 legislators to sign on to an amendment to increase the House FY17 appropriation. The number in the House as a result moved from $10 million to $12 million. That is not as much as we asked for, and it is less than the budget we have this year.But we are just in the middle of the process. Now we must take our efforts to the Senate and work hard to pull that number up to the $17 million that we have built into our five-year plan. We have many friends in the House who stand by us every year and who truly appreciate the work that you do. The energy they put into fighting for the MCC, and many other issues for which they are responsible, is not always reflected in every outcome. As we continue through state budget process it is important that we continue to share stories of success and impact with our legislators and help them make the case on our behalf. Let's keep our eye on the prize as we head to the Senate. Always thank our allies for their sincere efforts. And let's unleash our enthusiasm on our Senate allies in pursuit of a restored budget for the MCC and an appropriate investment for the arts and culture in Massachusetts. Sincerely,

Anita Walker Executive Director Massachusetts Cultural Council

Free Celtic Concert Featuring BOXTY to be Presented 4/23 on the Grounds of the Endicott Estate

BOXTY
Free Celtic Concert to be Presented on the Grounds of the Endicott Estate

Saturday, April 23, 2016, 1pm, rain or shine
656 East Street, Dedham, Ma, 02026 
Presented by notloB Music in association with the JamesJoyce Ramble 

Straight off the boat from Dublin Ireland, Cormac Marnell hails from the South side in Ballinteer. Cormac began playing music only five years ago. As one of the founding members of The Locals and then The Auld Locals, Cormac made a name for himself in the Boston pub scene. He went on to open up for The Saw Doctors as well as playing every major Irish Festival in New England. Cormac performs on the 5 string banjo, tin whistle and harmonica as well as lead vocals.

Dave Bowman hails from Martha's Vineyard off the coast of Cape Cod and has had an interest in Irish traditional music for nearly a decade. Skilled on the tin whistle, the mandolin, octave mandolin and tenor banjo Dave lends a diverse range of talents to the folk stylings of the band. Dave is a capable singer who likes to perform classics like "The Handsome Cabin Boy" and "Tom Dooley".

Free, donations accepted.
Reservations not required, but appreciated.

This concert is supported in part by a grant from the Dedham Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. Free-will donations ($5-10pp) accepted.

The concert will be presented on the lawn of the Endicott Estate, or, in the event or rain, under a large tent. Note the concert coincides with the road race’s in-person registration day (Saturday), the day before the James Joyce Ramble (Sunday).

ABOUT NOTLOB MUSIC
Since 2007, notloB Music has presented close to 200 folk, old-time, bluegrass, progressive string band, world and Celtic concerts in unique venues throughout the greater Boston area.
Opt in to our mail list - http://tinyurl.com/notlobmail
Bookmark our website - https://sites.google.com/site/notlobmusic/
"Like" our Facebook page -https://www.facebook.com/notloBParlourConcerts/
Bookmark our eventbrite page (tickets or reservations -http://www.eventbrite.com/o/notlob-music-6730833315

Other notoB concerts:

#		Date	Artist	Venue
184		04/23/16	Boxty	Endicott Estate
185		04/23/16	The Gather Rounders	Arts at the Armory
186		04/27/16	Unauthorized Personnel	Arts at the Armory
187		05/25/16	Emily Haviland Baker and Friends	Arts at the Armory
188		05/28/16	Fódhla	Arts at the Armory
189		06/01/16	Andrea Beaton, Wendy MacIssac & Eric MacDonald	Arlington Center for the Arts
190		06/13/16	Mari Black and the World Fiddle Ensemble	Arts at the Armory
191		06/22/16	Caroline Cotter supported by Wendy Cody	Arts at the Armory
192		06/25/16	The Jordan Tirrell-Wysocki Trio	Arts at the Armory

House Cuts MCC by 13% - Senate Budget Up Next

Source: MassCreative, by permission.

www.mass-creative.org Here is the proverbial good news and bad news from the work of the arts, cultural, and creative community over the past three weeks to increase the state’s investment in the creative community through the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) budget. First the bad news: Late last night, the Massachusetts House passed its budget that cut the Massachusetts Cultural Council budget 13% to a level of $9.6 million. This is a $1.5 million cut from last year’s budget of $11.1 million. This reverses the budget gains made last year and will force the MCC to cut back on its support to the community and its programming. This cut happened despite 113 legislators supporting Representative Cory Atkins’ amendment to increase the MCC budget to $16 million. More than 70% of the House supported an increase, yet the budget stands at $9.6 million. Now, some good news: Over the past three weeks, due to the outreach of all of you, we successfully bumped up the budget 88% from the original allocation of $5.1 million proposed in the first Ways and Means budget. Thank you to House Ways and Means Chair Brian Dempsey who led that fight. The creative community raised its voice in unison -- generating more than 2,000 emails in 48 hours to secure the 113 co-sponsors, using social media to educate the public, placing op-eds in daily papers around the state, and making hundreds of calls into the State House on Tuesday when the House was deliberating. Together, we held 14 district meetings with 33 legislators out in our communities. These meetings were attended by 544 people. We built a broad base of support in the House. No other amendment recruited more than 83 co-sponsors. Only 15 of the 1,181 amendments had more than 50 co-sponsors. A number of your legislators emerged as champions for the arts, cultural, and creative community. In particular, Arts and Culture Committee Chair Cory Atkins led the campaign work in the chamber with her colleagues and truly worked hard for us all. The best news is that the process is not over. The Senate will release its budget in a couple of weeks and we will have another opportunity to reverse the cuts and work to increase the state’s investment in the creative community. Stay tuned and get ready for our next round with the Senate, which will start in a couple of weeks. Thanks again for all of your great work. Matt Wilson, MASSCreative http://www.mass-creative.org/

27% arts cut house vote today

If you are an artist who receives grant money from a local cultural council, or an arts patron who attend MCC-supported events, you will want to heed MassCreative's advice.

DO IT NOW!

www.mass-creative.org Jeffrey -- The House will be voting TODAY on the proposed budget released earlier this month by the House Ways and Means Committee. News reports suggest that lawmakers will vote on a measure that puts the budget for arts and culture at $8 million. This is a 27% cut from the current investment of $11.1 million and will surely result in reductions or outright elimination of arts and cultural programming in communities across the Commonwealth. Please call your House Representative NOW (the vote is expected to happen at noon) urging him/her to support funding for the arts at $16 million. They can do this by fully supporting Rep. Cory Atkins’ amendment on the House floor to fund the Massachusetts Cultural Council at $16 million. Find your House Representative's phone number here. You can search for your House Representative by town and zip here. A super-majority of 113 House Representatives have already signed on to Rep. Atkins’ amendment #357. But ALL lawmakers need to hear from constituents TODAY. Call now to ask your House Representative to stand up for the creative community on the House floor by supporting Rep Atkins' amendment to fund the Massachusetts Cultural Council at $16 million. Help spread the word to your colleagues, supporters, friends, and family: Send an email to your colleagues and supporters. See our sample. Post on social media. See our samples. Check out our fact sheet to help make your case. Keep up the good work, Matt Wilson, MASSCreative http://www.mass-creative.org/

MCC Approves nearly $10M for Public Programs in the Arts, Sciences, & Humanities

This is a straight press release posted for its newsworthiness.
Source

MCC Approves nearly $10M for Public Programs in the Arts, Sciences, & Humanities

(Concord, MA)—The Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) today approved a spending plan for the coming year that will invest nearly $10 million in nonprofit arts, humanities, and science organizations, local cultural councils, education programs, and working artists across the Commonwealth.

MCC’s FY14 spending plan benefitted from a $1.6 million increase to its state appropriation, approved by the Legislature and signed by the Governor in July. That increase begins to restore cultural funding lost through years of budget cuts, and helps to offset federal cutbacks in the National Endowment for the Arts’ annual state partnership grant to MCC. The MCC Board unanimously endorsed the plan at its meeting at the Concord Museum, where it was joined by Concord State Rep. Cory Atkins, House Chair of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts, & Cultural Development.

MCC Executive Director Anita Walker highlighted the budget’s increased funding for nonprofit organizations, local cultural councils, artist residencies in schools, and artist fellowships.

“Thanks to support from the Legislature, we will be able to increase investments that will make a real difference to our partners in the cultural sector,” said Walker.

“I’m pleased that our success in this year’s budget debate will translate into more resources for the arts and culture in our communities,” said Rep. Atkins. “These dollars will strengthen our economy, expand access to cultural programs, and enhance the quality of life in our cities and towns.”

Below is a summary of MCC’s FY14 spending plan. (Detailed funding lists including individual grant amounts will be available online August 22 by noon.)

Nonprofit Cultural Organizations: $4 million - The Cultural Investment Portfolioincludes nearly 400 nonprofit arts, humanities, and science organizations across Massachusetts. These organizations connect children and adults to theatre, music, visual arts, and film; teach them about history, literature, and the natural environment; and introduce them to new languages and cultures. These grants must be matched one to one, and range from $2,500 to $55,000.

Communities: $2.63 million - MCC’s 329 Local Cultural Councils (LCCs) are the most extensive public cultural funding network in the nation. They provide funding to every Massachusetts city and town through the work of more than 2,300 volunteers. The councils support local arts and history, fund school field trips, and sponsor local concerts and exhibitions. Grants to local councils range from $4,250 for the smallest towns to $96,180 for Springfield and $152,020 for Boston, according to a formula that reflects the state's local aid system.

Education: $1.4 million - MCC works to ensure that all children have access to high-quality, creative learning experiences in school and beyond. The agency pursues this goal through grants, services, and advocacy to schools, communities, and nonprofit cultural organizations.

• STARS Residencies help schools partner with artists, scientists and other creative teachers for in-depth learning in arts, history, and the sciences. MCC will DOUBLE the number of STARS grants to schools this year to meet intense demand for this funding from teachers and principals.
• YouthReach makes grants to cultural and community-based organizations to support in-depth arts, humanities, and science programs for young people at risk. MCC will also convene a national summit on arts and youth at risk as part of the 20th anniversary of YouthReach in 2014.
• Big Yellow School Bus provides grants to help schools meet the transportation costs of educational field trips to cultural institutions in Massachusetts.
• Poetry Out Loud is a national competition in which high school students memorize and perform great poems and explore the dynamic aspects of slam poetry, spoken work, and theatre in their English and Drama classes. Huntington Theatre Co. runs the program in Massachusetts.
• Creative Minds Afterschool is a visual arts curriculum for educators, developed with the Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership.

Creative Economy: $820,000 - MCC’s Adams Arts Program supports partnerships that use arts and culture to drive economic and community development. ArtistLink provides grants to cities and towns develop spaces for artists to live and work. And the Cultural Data Project measures the economic impact of the nonprofit cultural sector.

Artists: $416,500 - MCC will boost Artist Fellowships to $10,000 for a range of disciplines, from poetry and music composition to painting and sculpture. MCC will also provide $50,000 for artist touring programs.

Humanities: $418,298 - The MCC provides an annual partnership grant to Mass Humanities, which supports public programs in history, literature, and other humanities disciplines to enhance and improve civic life in the Commonwealth.

Universal Design Initiative: $100,000 - MCC will develop standards for a new certification program promoting universal design principles for cultural facilities and programming.

This fall MCC will re-launch Creative Minds/Creative Communities - a series of receptions across the Commonwealth to celebrate this newest round of investments. The first event is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 9 at 9 am at Winnekenni Castle in Haverhill, just prior to a public hearing that is part of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts, & Cultural Development’s statewide “listening tour.” Additional events are planned in Worcester, Fall River, Holyoke, and other communities. More details to come.

* * *

About the Massachusetts Cultural Council
The MCC is a state agency supporting the arts, sciences, and humanities, to improve the quality of life in Massachusetts and its communities. It pursues its mission through a combination of grants, services, and advocacy for nonprofit cultural organizations, schools, communities, and artists. MCC's total budget for the current fiscal year is $12.7 million, which includes annual grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and other sources.