Gold Star Awards
The MCC Gold Star Awards, established in 2001, recognize exemplary cultural programs funded by local cultural councils (LCCs) throughout the state. These awards offer every LCC, large or small, the opportunity to gain extra recognition for their vital contributions to their communities. The MCC honors the award-winning projects at the LCC statewide assembly every other year. In the alternating years when there is no statewide event, a series of local award ceremonies are held in partnership with the nominating LCCs across the Commonwealth with local cultural councils, community members, municipal officials, state legislators, and the public.
Honoring Gold Star Award winning programs helps LCCs gain the attention of future applicants and council members, improve local efforts to advocate for the arts, increase community pride, and provide an occasion for extra media coverage.
Be sure to take advantage of this exciting opportunity by nominating an outstanding project.
About the Gold Star Program
In fiscal year 2012, MCC honored five outstanding programs in Cambridge, Ipswich, Pelham, Rehoboth, and Salem that emphasize education, cultural diversity and community building. These projects received funding ranging from $700 to $2,000. The community populations served were as small as 75 and as large as 5,000 citizens.
Many of these programs highlighted unique characteristics of their community, such as the "Spin a Yarn, Weave a Life" project by Catherine Tutter and Cheyenne McCarter, funded by the Cambridge Arts Council, in which local senior citizens told their family histories through a unique Japanese fiber art form called Shifu. In Rehoboth, the event "Remembering Rehoboth School Days" was initiated to highlight the community's history as a pioneer of public education in America. Finally, in Salem, the Salem Jazz & Soul Festival, which honors the historic influence of Jazz in Salem brought in dozens of world class performers to Salem and raised funds to support music education.
Read about Gold Star projects that have embodied several of these characteristics:
LEARN MORE ABOUT ALL GOLD STAR RECIPIENTS
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Award Criteria
- Projects nominated for a Gold Star award must either:
- Feature exemplary works in the arts, humanities, and/or sciences.
- highlight a unique quality or diverse character1 of the community.
- Projects nominated for a Gold Star award must also demonstrate community impact. Nominations must explain how the project meets at least three of the following community impact criteria:
- Catalyzes collaboration with community-based businesses, organizations and/or residents
- Exposes under-served2 constituencies to the arts, humanities and/or sciences
- Builds community3
- Inspires substantial community volunteerism
- Leverages additional funding, services or goods
- Provides quality arts educational experience4
- Projects nominated for a Gold Star award must also satisfy three of the following attributes:
- Presents the arts, humanities or interpretive sciences in an innovative or unique way
- Creates an on-going project
- Fosters audience participation
- Provides a new experience in the arts, humanities or interpretive sciences to a particular audience5
- Contributes to the community's economic development, revitalization or sense of place.
1"Unique quality" and "diverse character" can refer to the physical or historical identity of a place (i.e. a city's historical connection to shoe making, a celebrated town founder, the prominent role of a river in shaping a community) as well as the unique cultural heritage of its residents (i.e. a celebration of Cambodian history and culture, a program featuring traditional Indian dance, an Irish festival).
2The Massachusetts Office of Affirmative Action currently designates the following as underserved: African Americans, Asian Americans, Latin Americans, Native Americans, people with disabilities, Vietnam-era veterans, and women. The MCC also considers low-income and rural communities, as well as citizens over 65-years-old, as underserved populations.
3For example, the project fosters community pride, highlights the uniqueness of a community, spotlights residents of a community, engages people in community life, builds common ground among people, provides sense of celebration.
4For example, the artist has a record of high-quality programs, the artist has demonstrated an ability to respond creatively to unique school needs, program planning has involved parents, community members, teachers, the principal and the artist, program clearly articulates the project goals, program provides professional development for teachers, the program content is connected to the Massachusetts curriculum frameworks, program includes reasonable evaluation plan.
5 For example, the project introduces a form of art to a group of people for the first time, introduces a cultural tradition or art form to another culture, helps build an audience for a specific form of art, humanities, or interpretive science, or provides participants an opportunity to experience a specific form or arts, humanities or science they may not have had otherwise.
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Nominate a Project
- Deadline for nominations: Thursday, November 15, 2012
- Projects must have taken place between November 1, 2011 and October 31, 2012.
- Projects that received a Gold Star award in previous years are ineligible
- One nomination per council
To nominate a project for Gold Star Award, please fill out the nomination form. Completed nominations should be sent to jennifer.atwood@art.state.ma.us, or mailed to:
Massachusetts Cultural Council
Attn: Gold Star Awards
10 St. James Ave. 3rd floor
Boston, MA 02116
For questions or more information about the Gold Star Awards, please contact Jennifer Atwood at 800-232-0960 x285.
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