MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES 2016 BOSTON CULTURAL COUNCIL GRANT WINNERS

MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES 2016 BOSTON CULTURAL COUNCIL GRANT WINNERS

BOSTON - Friday, March 4, 2016 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh today announced that 177 organizations supporting arts and culture across the City of Boston were awarded a total of $428,650 by the Boston Cultural Council (BCC). The grant winners were selected through a competitive process and represent the diversity of Boston's arts community from the visual arts to theater, film and video, music, dance and the humanities. The BCC received 193 applications for the 2016 round. "Our local arts and culture organizations do an incredible job in promoting creative talent and strengthening the way arts influence our civic fabric," said Mayor Walsh. "I congratulate all those who received a grant, and I look forward to seeing the great work to come from these organizations." "We are thrilled to receive funding from the Boston Cultural Council," said Carol Knox, Executive Director of BalletRox. "Support from the BCC is crucial to the work that we do to expose Boston youth to the world of dance, which would otherwise be too costly for their families to afford." The Boston Cultural Council falls under the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture and receives annual funding from the state-run Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) to support the arts, humanities and innovative science programs that enhance the quality of life in the City of Boston. This year, the MCC allocated $179,000 to the Boston Cultural Council. Mayor Walsh this year added an additional $300,000 to the fund. Fourteen Boston residents are appointed to the BCC by the Mayor for six year terms. The BCC accepts applications each fall, which are then evaluated based on their proposals and their benefits to the city and its residents. Mayor Walsh has shown a strong commitment to the arts since being elected. This is the second year in a row that he has increased City funding to the BCC. Most recently, the Mayor announced in his State of the City address an additional $1 million in support of the arts.   Recently, Mayor Walsh announced the selection of three artists-in-residence for the City's first ever artists in residence program, who will work city departments to integrate the arts into city services. Additionally, Mayor Walsh committed funding to create an artist resource desk in the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture to provide information about programs and services available to the city's creative talent.