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Watch: “Rural by Choice” – an MH50 film
To commemorate our 50th anniversary in 2024, we produced a series of short films that revisit the Mass Humanities archive. Rural by Choice explores the complex idea of what it means to be “rural” in today’s day and age. It draws connections between a documentary film...
A Holiday Message from Michael J. Bobbitt
12.17.2024 Ann Petruccelli Moon, Deputy Chief of Staff As the year winds down, Executive Director Michael J. Bobbitt took time to share his thoughts, in verse, on our accomplishments and the year ahead. All of us at Mass Cultural Council wish you a peaceful end to...
Episode 400: Ben Franklin’s world
https://traffic.libsyn.com/benfranklinsworld/400_Ben_Franklins_world.mp3 How do historians define Ben Franklin’s “world?” What historical event, person, or place in the era of Ben Franklin do they wish you knew about? In celebration of the 400th episode of Ben...
Host a Douglass reading in 2025
Join the movement and host a reading of Frederick Douglass in your community in 2025. Applications open December 16. Receive $2,000 in funds to support your event. Access informational webinars, a trauma-informed discussion guide, a media kit and promotional...
How Schools Engage Students: $1.5M Invested in Creative Projects
12.16.2024 Amy Chu, Program Officer Creative Projects for Schools Artist Michael Aghoha standing in front of a mural created in collaboration between KIPP/SPUR/Aghohawa with KIPP Academy Lynn Charter District. The 2024-2025 school year coincides with a one-time...
Create, Connect, Catalyze: YouthReach in FY24
12.13.2024 Erik Holmgren, Manager of Advancement and Strategic Partnerships; Amy Chu, Program Officer; and Käthe Swaback, Program Officer Creative Youth Development | YouthReach New Bedford Whaling Museum High School Apprentices participating in a Seaweed public...
Celebrating our Arts-Vibrant Communities
12.12.2024 Bethann Steiner, Senior Director of Public Affairs SMU DataArts’ Top 40 Most Arts-Vibrant Communities of 2024,Ranked by Per Capita Supply, Demand, andGovernment Support for the Arts A week ago Mass Cultural Council celebrated the news that Massachusetts...
HLI Takes Public History to the Streets
By Andrea Jones, Director, History Leadership InstituteWith Nicole Martinez LeGrand, Multicultural Collections Curator, Indiana Historical SocietyDoes our daily grind stand in the way of creating necessary change in the field of public history? With the constant Zoom...
Mass Cultural Council Seeks $28M in the FY26 State Budget
12.11.2024 Bethann Steiner, Senior Director of Public Affairs Budget Mass Cultural Council, the Commonwealth’s independent state arts agency, is primarily funded each year through the Commonwealth’s General Appropriations Act, often referred to as the annual state...
What’s the Mass Leads Act Got for the Cultural Sector?
12.10.2024 Bethann Steiner, Senior Director of Public Affairs Yvonne Hao, Secretary of the Executive Office of Economic Development and member of our governing Council, speaks at a ceremonial bill signing event for the Mass Leads Act in Cambridge. In March Governor...
Small Museums and Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment
By Joan H. Baldwin Decades ago, when I was offered my first job as a county historical society director, I felt like the saint of neglected objects. I worked in the proverbial privileged, white person, helping a wealth of things speak in new ways. Along the way, I’d...
New documentary series highlights the Black experience in western Massachusetts
“Legacies: Stories of Black History in the 413” premieres Dec. 12 on NEPM TV. Black art, history, faith, and culture converge in a new three-part documentary series exploring the Black experience in western Massachusetts. “Legacies: Stories of Black History in the...
Looking to Develop Artist Space? Get Early Advice from a Code Consultant.
12.06.2024 Jay Paget, Program Director Artist Space | Mass Cultural Facilities Fund Mother Brook Art & Community Center, Dedham (former Avery School) Mass Cultural Council has a suite of resources to help with the acquisition, design, and build-out of creative...
Massachusetts Ranks 3rd in the Nation for Arts Vibrancy
12.05.2024 Bethann Steiner, Senior Director of Public Affairs Today Mass Cultural Council celebrates news of the Commonwealth’s two-year stretch as the 3rd most arts-vibrant state in the nation, as ranked by SMU DataArts, the National Center for Arts Research. In the...
Episode 399: Jeremy Schipper, Denmark Vesey’s Bible
https://traffic.libsyn.com/benfranklinsworld/399_Schipper.mp3 Denmark Vesey’s failed revolt in 1822 could have been the largest insurrection of enslaved people against their enslavers in United States history. Not only was Vesey’s plan large in scale, but Charleston...