Seekonk Arts Council Seeks Grant Applications

Are you an artist, a musician, a performer? If so, and you would like to add a bit of culture to Seekonk lives, then you might be eligible for a Seekonk Arts Council grant.

According to Council spokesperson Martha Torrance, grants are available to support a variety of artistic projects and activities in Seekonk, including exhibits, festivals, field trips, short-term artist residencies or performances in schools, workshops and lectures. 

The Seekonk Arts Council is part of a network of 329 Local Cultural Councils serving all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth. The LCC Program is the largest grassroots cultural funding network in the nation, supporting thousands of community-based projects in the arts, sciences and humanities every year. The state legislature provides an annual appropriation to the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, which then allocates funds to each community, reads the release.

This year, the Seekonk Arts Council will distribute about $3,870 in grant monies. Previously funded projects have included Bates and Tincknell’s Multicultural Celebration, the Middle and High School Bands, Potato Chip Science for Aitken Elementary students, and a concert and a silver tea for seniors.

Decisions about which activities will be granted funding are made at the community level by a board of municipally appointed volunteers. The members of the Arts Council are: Debbie Block, Bill Clartti Dalton, Maria Holme, and Martha Torrance. 

If you or someone you know is a Massachusetts presenter/performer offering programs in the Arts, Humanities, and the Interpretive Sciences that would benefit from a small grant (average amount is $250-$500) to help fund a performance or program to benefit Seekonk residents, please fill out an application! Applications can be found at the , the Public Schools, as well as at www.mass-culture.org/Seekonk. Questions may be directed to Arts Council Chair Bill Clark, at brotherb2@comcast.net.

Applications must be postmarked by Friday, Oct. 14, 2011, and mailed to 100 Peck St., Seekonk, MA 02771.