Campaign for Cultural Facilities celebrates $50 million in funding to arts, history, science nonprofits

For immediate release: January 24, 2012
Contact:  Ted McEnroe (TBF) 617-338-3890
Greg Liakos (MCC) 617-727-3668 x343
Kelsey Abbruzzese (MassDevelopment) 617-330-2086

Boston – The Boston Foundation, Massachusetts Cultural Council and MassDevelopment today announced an upcoming round of grants from the Cultural Facilities Fund, that will bring the total grantmaking to Massachusetts organizations driven by the Campaign for Cultural Facilities to more than $50 million since the distribution of the first Fund grants in 2007.

The new round of grants to be awarded later this year will make $5 million available to strengthen nonprofit arts, history and science organizations across the state of Massachusetts.

“As we reach this milestone, we have many reasons around the Commonwealth to celebrate,” said Anita Walker, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Cultural Council. “Even through a recession, the Cultural Facilities Fund has been driving investment, creating jobs and providing needed capital support to protect, preserve and even expand both small and large nonprofit arts, science and history institutions.”

More than 200 nonprofits have received CFF grants since 2007, using the funds directly for preservation, safety and other facility improvements. In many cases, funding from the CFF has been used to leverage additional contributions from the public and private sectors. Investment by the Governor and Legislature into the Cultural Facilities Fund has leveraged more than $837 million in additional support, while providing work for more than 10,000 architects, engineers, contractors and construction workers and creating 1,163 new permanent jobs at the completion of the capital projects.

“It’s difficult to look around the Commonwealth and find a community whose arts and cultural organizations have not been touched by CFF grants,” said Paul Grogan, President of the Boston Foundation, which partnered in the launch the Campaign for Cultural Facilities. “For five years, this grant program has provided funding for improvements that expand the reach and impact of arts, science and history organizations from Boston to the Berkshires.”

A list of the prior grant recipients and descriptions of their projects can be found on the Massachusetts Cultural Council website, massculturalcouncil.org.

“This new round of grants will continue to boost the Commonwealth’s creative economy, a vibrant sector in Massachusetts,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones. “I thank Governor Patrick and the Legislature for their vision for our cultural organizations and support of this program; MassDevelopment is pleased to partner with the Cultural Council as we move forward into the next round.”

The announcement of the new round of funding was made prior to a board meeting of the Massachusetts Cultural Council at the Boston Ballet, which received two prior grants for needed infrastructure work on the Ballet’s South End headquarters.

Applications for the new round of grants will be available soon. Interested organizations can download application forms and learn more about program guidelines when they become available at www.massculturalcouncil.org.

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The Boston Foundation, Greater Boston’s community foundation, is one of the oldest and largest community foundations in the nation, with net assets of $850 million.  In 2011, the Foundation and its donors made almost $78 million in grants to nonprofit organizations and received gifts of $81 million. The Foundation is made up of some 850 separate charitable funds established by donors either for the general benefit of the community or for special purposes.  The Boston Foundation also serves as a major civic leader, provider of information, convener and sponsor of special initiatives designed to address the community’s and region’s most pressing challenges.  For more information about the Boston Foundation, visit www.tbf.org or call 617-338-1700.

The Massachusetts Cultural Council is a state agency supporting the arts, humanities, and sciences to improve the quality of life in Massachusetts and its communities. The MCC pursues this mission through of grants, services, and advocacy for nonprofit cultural organizations, schools, communities, and artists. The MCC is funded primarily by the state and through grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Bank of America and others. It achieves its mission through grants, services, and partnerships to nonprofit cultural organizations, schools, communities and artists.

MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2011, MassDevelopment financed or managed more than 300 projects generating investment of $3.8 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create more than 10,000 jobs (2,547 permanent and 8,129 construction), and build or rehabilitate more than 1,000 residential units.

The Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund (CFF) is an initiative of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Fund was created as part of a major economic stimulus bill that was approved by the Massachusetts Legislature in July 2006. The goal of the Cultural Facilities Fund is to increase investments from both the public sector and the private sector to support the sound planning and development of cultural facilities in Massachusetts. The Fund provides Capital Grants to promote the acquisition, design, repair, rehabilitation renovation, expansion, or construction of nonprofit cultural facilities in Massachusetts. All grants from the Fund must be matched with cash contributions from the private or public sector.