Featherstone Center for the Arts was awarded a $125,000 grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund recently. The only other on-Island recipient of such a grant this year was the Martha’s Vineyard Museum.
Featherstone will use the grant to further construction on its Oak Bluffs campus, where a 6,200-square-foot art barn and a 2,400-square-foot pottery studio are underway. In a press release to The Times, Featherstone development director Posie Haeger said the new art barn will feature two large classrooms, a teaching kitchen, a conference room, and a vaulted gallery, and the new pottery studio will be three times the size of the one it is replacing.
“We are thrilled to receive this significant award, which illustrates the commonwealth’s commitment to arts and culture during a time when arts funding is at risk,” said Featherstone executive director Ann Smith.
This year the competitive award was also granted to organizations such as the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Featherstone has raised $4 million to date for its construction campaign. It hopes to garner another $2 million to complete the buildings in progress, and is actively seeking contributions large and modest.
“This grant is a welcome and wonderful financial boost to our campaign, expansion, and building projects,” Ms. Haeger said. “We are proud of our partnerships and collaborations with other nonprofits on-Island, and these new building will provide even greater possibilities and opportunity for collaborations moving forward.”
Featherstone hopes to complete its art barn by mid-August. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for its pottery studio is slated for June 11 at 4 pm. Pottery demonstrations are planned afterward.
