The Martha’s Vineyard Cultural Council (MVCC) will host a reception in honor of its 2018 grant award recipients on Tuesday, May 1, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center at 79 Beach Ave., Vineyard Haven.
According to a press release, for entertainment, there will be Montoya and the West Tisbury School STEAM musicians. Mark Lovewell will be sharing a song and poem celebrating the Vineyard and our commercial fishermen. Abby Bender will be dancing a five-minute excerpt of a longer work with Leah Crosby called “Swimming in the Pool of Truth.”
“Join us in celebrating the complex network of institutions, organizations, and individuals that keeps the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences thriving on this island,” said Robert Hauck, chairperson of MVCC. “Its members, appointed by each of the six towns, do their best to distribute funds as far and wide as possible. We are able to do this because of generous local contributions from the six towns, along with principal funding from the Massachusetts Arts Council.”
The Martha’s Vineyard Cultural Council is part of a network of 329 Local Cultural Councils (LCC) 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.
This year, the MVCC funded 43 grants using $41,000 in funds. The grant recipients include the following:
Vineyard Haven Band, celebration of 150 years
Mabelle Filippe, “The News and Weather with Bella”
Roberta Kirn, Winter Concert and Community Sings
Polly Hill Arboretum, MV Kindergarteners for Monarchs!
Allyson Malik, Oak Bluffs African-American Literature and Cultural Festival
M.V. Museum, summer art education for children with special needs
Marine and Paleobiological Research Institute, National Fossil Day
All are invited to this free, accessible event. Light refreshments prepared by Uma Datta will be available. For more information about the grant reception or the MVCC, please contact Robert Hauck at hauckr@gmail.com.
There will be a public information session in September at the West Tisbury library for those who would like to find out more about the MVCC and learn how to complete the simple grant application. Information and forms are available online at massculturalcouncil.org. Applications are due mid-October 2018.
