How the Massachusetts Cultural Council provides generous benefits to the public
Our Massachusetts Cultural Council creates enormous public benefit for all regions of our state while returning 7.4 times their original investment to state coffers. Won’t you advocate for increasing their funding in the House and Senate Budget by contacting your state senator and state representative today? Don’t you wish all public investments returned as much?
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MCC Funds Bring Public Benefits for Schools & Communities, Advocates testify
Helping students reach their academic and life goals through music and theater. Working to assimilate new immigrants into community life. Bringing needed revenue to the state through cultural tourism.
These are just some of the public benefits of state support for the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC), according to testimony before a state budget panel yesterday.
[blockquote align=”left” cite=”~MCC Executive Director Anita Walker”]By investing in the MCC you’re investing in what works for Massachusetts. [/blockquote]”By investing in the MCC you’re investing in what works for Massachusetts,” said MCC Executive Director Anita Walker. “The state invested $12 million in the MCC this year. The nonprofit arts, humanities, and science organizations in our Cultural Investment Portfolio are returning at least $89 million to state coffers. That’s a good deal for the Commonwealth.”
MCC seeks a $15 million state appropriation for Fiscal Year 2016, which begins July 1. Walker spoke to members of the state Legislature’s Joint Committee on Ways & Means. The Committee heard testimony from state agencies at a hearing at Everett High School in advance of the release of the House budget later this month. To learn more about how you can help restore arts and cultural funding, go here.
In Malden, MCC grants allow the Chinese Culture Connection to help that city’s burgeoning population of new residents from China and other East Asian countries find their place in America.
[blockquote align=”none” cite=”~Mei Hung, Executive Director of the Chinese Culture Connection”]For children these programs are especially important so that they feel welcome and safe.[/blockquote]
Students in cities like Everett and Somerville are also exploring new learning opportunities with help from MCC funds. At Everett High, Commonwealth Shakespeare Co.’s Victoria Townsend is teaching ninth-graders language, presentation, and critical thinking skills through in-depth exploration of William Shakespeare’s masterpiece, “Romeo and Juliet.” The effort is supported through MCC STARS Residencies that bring talented teaching artists like Townsend into schools to integrate arts, humanities, and sciences into the curriculum.
[blockquote align=”none” cite=”~Victoria Townsend, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company”]The Commonwealth Shakespeare program is called “Public Poet,” which reflects that these students are not just reading a play. They are taking what they have read and bringing it to life in their school and their community.[/blockquote]
Meantime a team of music educators from El Sistema Somerville led by Diane Cline are helping students in that city through daily, high-quality instruction in ensemble-based music that features engaging, passionate instruction and incorporates diverse cultural traditions. MCC’s new SerHacer funds El Sistema Somerville along with a range of other local music ensemble efforts statewide. The program also receives support from the city through the Somerville Arts Council.
[blockquote align=”none” cite=”~Diane Cline, El Sistema Somerville”]El Sistema teaches kids not only how to be better musicians but also how to be better citizens and live a healthy, successful life. With additional funding, we could reach more students with this proven approach to music education.[/blockquote]
The hearing was led by state Senator Sal DiDomenico of Everett and Representative Paul Brodeur of Melrose.
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 grants, services, and advocacy for nonprofit cultural organizations, schools, communities, and artists. MCC’s total budget for this fiscal year is $13.3 million, which includes a $11.8 million state appropriation and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. MCC also runs the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund in partnership with MassDevelopment.
