Lisa Simmons, Program Manager
Congratulations to the LCC Program!
So far in FY26, the Local Cultural Council (LCC) Program has awarded 7,430 grants totaling $6,645,058 to support community-based projects in the arts, humanities, and sciences—including murals, lectures, festivals, and performances.
The LCC Program—administered by more than 2,400 municipally-appointed volunteers serving communities across the state—received a record-breaking 13,129 applications this cycle. The dedication of LCC members helps ensure that residents can experience and participate in thousands of arts and cultural programs each year.
Mass Cultural Council allocated $5,700,000 to LCCs in FY26, with many LCCs further strengthening their grant pools by contributing additional locally and municipally raised funds from FY25.
Since 1980, Massachusetts has been home to this expansive grassroots system of public support for community arts and cultural programming—unmatched anywhere else in the United States.
Through these LCC grants, new and dynamic cultural opportunities will once again be available throughout Massachusetts, including:
- Amesbury Cultural Council is supporting the Amesbury Steamroller Printmaking Festival, a large-scale community printmaking event celebrating creativity, collaboration, and the power of the press—literally.
- Auburn Cultural Council is supporting The History of Nintendo, a walkable/playable museum, where players will be able to learn about how Nintendo started and see how the iconic console evolved to where it is today.
- Chelsea Cultural Council is supporting Chelsea Astronomy Nights, two free, bilingual (Spanish/English), pop-up astronomy nights in Chelsea parks in partnership with local astronomy organizations, where families and children can look through telescopes to see Saturn’s rings or the moon’s craters for the first time.
- Duxbury Cultural Council is supporting Talking Information Center Live Radio Play and Broadcast for Blind and Low Vision Listeners, bringing live theater to those who might not have access to it otherwise with the performance of live radio theater and subsequent broadcast for our blind and low vision listeners.
- Harvard Cultural Council is supporting Rockabye Beats which produces immersive shows for children of all ages that feature exploring different instruments, a sprinkle of Spanish vocabulary, movement through freestyle dancing, and more.
- Haverhill Cultural Council is supporting SARANG – Colors of South Asian Music, a colorful exploration of South Asian music traditions that includes a 60-minute concert and live music with conversation to inspire and educate the community.
- Lee Cultural Council is supporting The Barn at Lee’s artist residency program, an initiative that provides emerging theatre artists with 7–10 days of workspace, room and board, a stipend, and time to develop new work culminating in a public showing for the community.
- Lenox Cultural Council is supporting The Festival Latino of the Berkshires, a free, annual celebration held in downtown Great Barrington, MA that honors the rich cultural traditions of the Latino community. The festival will feature indoor and outdoor programming including live music, folkloric dance, artisan markets, youth activities, Latin cuisine, and bilingual educational outreach.
- Leverett Cultural Council is supporting the The Art of Pysanky: Ukrainian Easter Egg Workshop, a project where up to 20 participants will learn to draw wax lines on an egg and layer dye colors using the Ukrainian Pysanky technique handed down through generations of Eastern Europeans. Life-long crafter Celeste Langlois will teach a two-hour workshop at the Leverett Library where participants will be provided with all materials needed to create their own unique decorated egg to keep. Celeste will also teach about Ukrainian, Polish, Slovakian, and Russian history and folklore connected to the Pysansky art form as well as the meanings behind each color used in the designs.
- Martha’s Vineyard Cultural Council is supporting The Black Children’s Reading Corner, a 3-day community event by Blactina Media honoring the legacy of writer Dorothy West. It will bring families together to hear Gullah Geechee folklore and stories by Black authors fostering belonging, representation, and cultural awareness. Featuring acclaimed journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault and elder community readers, the program encourages intergenerational connection, meaningful conversations about African American history, and a lasting love of reading.
- Methuen Cultural Council is supporting Artful Aging, encouraging creative connections through senior arts workshops.
- Nantucket Cultural Council is supporting Nantucket S.T.A.R. Sensory Art, a program by teaching artist Lauren Soverino that offers weekly sensory art classes for 10–12 children ages 5+ with identified special needs, providing accessible, therapeutic creative experiences tailored to their disabilities.
- New Bedford Cultural Council is supporting Migrant Families in New Bedford: Portraits for a Journey, celebrating and documenting the experiences of migrant families in New Bedford, a community whose stories are often underrepresented. By creating portraits that honor cultural heritage, family ties, and migration experiences, the project aims to strengthens community identity and foster intercultural understanding.
- Newton Cultural Council is supporting the Newton Theatre Company’s The Monologue Project: Voices of the Blind, Deaf and Physically Disabled, an initiative that elevates the stories of Newton’s residents with disabilities through the medium of personal storytelling, the power of spoken word, and human connection.
- Upton Cultural Council is supporting MURSD Multicultural Fair, an event featuring student performances, interactive dance workshops, and exhibits highlighting crafts, history, and cultural traditions from around the world, along with a variety of international foods.
- West Springfield Cultural Council is supporting the Everlasting Herbariums, Everlasting Floral Pumpkins & Botanical Brooms. This project will be presented by the Wandering Wisteria Botanicals (WWS) and introduces the community to three workshops using locally grown, harvested, and sustainable floral resources. These seasonal workshops use crops grown by WWS to create arrangements by attendees. The hands-on workshops with instructor Andrea Cressotti-Yung, will encourage creativity, appreciation for our natural resources, and inspiration for gardening.