Lillian Lee, Program Officer
A new cycle of the Gaming Mitigation Fund is now open. The Fund – established under MGL chapter 23K, section 59 – provides grants to Massachusetts performing arts centers to spend on touring shows or touring artist fees.
Over this program’s four cycles of funding, $14,414,254 has been awarded to more than 70 performing arts centers across the state. These grants were made to performing arts centers that have been faced with not only an unbalanced marketplace due to the introduction of casinos in Massachusetts, but also long-lasting impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. For many of these organizations, 2022 was the first year that they were able to return to, or get close to, their pre-pandemic levels of presenting.
As these organizations begin to envision what a ‘new normal’ looks like, Mass Cultural Council decided it was time for a revision of the Gaming Mitigation Fund to better serve the performing arts presenting sector across the Commonwealth and to more closely align with the Agency’s equity goals.
To ensure that any program changes would meet that goal, we gathered data from more than 800 organizations, including applicants to numerous Agency operating support programs and previous Gaming Mitigation Fund grantees.
Given the information we collected and drawing on the Agency’s equity plans; we have made the following changes to the program for FY25:
- Performing arts centers owned by Federally Recognized Tribal Governments are now included as eligible organization types. Nonprofit Tribal, Native American, and Indigenous performing arts centers continue to be eligible for the program.
- Touring entities and the credentials required to verify them in the application process have been redefined.
- Organizations will report on finances and performances for their Fiscal Year 2023 instead of a calendar year.
- Equity Impact Points will be added to the formula for BIPOC-Centered Organizations to ensure we are funding more equitably.
- Organizations receiving funding from the following Mass Cultural Council programs are not eligible to apply:
For more information on why we incorporated this change, read our recent blog post, Advancing Equity & Investing in More Organizations.
We believe these changes will allow a wider array of performing arts centers to benefit from this program, which aims to help mitigate the threat that casinos pose to the presenting landscape.
In order to help us get a true sense of the impact of these changes, the FY25 Gaming Mitigation Fund awards will be two-year grants instead of one-year grants, which means that organizations who receive a grant in FY25 will receive a grant in FY26 without needing to reapply. This also means that the Gaming Mitigation Fund will not be accepting new applications for the FY26 cycle, and instead will reopen for applications in FY27.
For the FY25 cycle, organizations must meet all three of the following criteria to be eligible (described in-depth in the program guidelines and FAQs). Applicants must:
- Be one of the following eligible organization types:
- A Nonprofit
- Municipally owned
- A Cultural Affiliate.
- Be a performing arts center.
The organization commits 50% or more of their operating expenses to the performing arts. - Present touring entities.
Touring entities are defined as shows or artists that have independent performing arts work that is generated or produced by the touring entity which they then make available to be booked/hosted/presented for live performances. Touring entities can either be presented by the organization or featured as Headliners in a work produced by the organization.
Gaming Mitigation Fund applications are due January 9, 2025.
Register an information session on November 19, 2024 and/or office hours.
Questions? Contact Lillian Lee, Program Officer.