Lowell Cultural Council

The Lowell Cultural Council (LCC) Mission is to promote excellence, access, education and diversity in the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences in order to improve the quality of life for all Lowell residents and to contribute to the economic vitality of this community through the re-granting of public monies awarded to the LCC by the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC).

News & Events

Lowell Cultural Council Hosts Grant Recipient Awards Party: March 4, 2010, 6:30 - 8:00p.m., Location: TBA

Amount Available for Granting in FY 2010

$49,937

PASS applications are not accepted.

LCC Program Guidelines (PDF)

Funding Priorities

During the Community Input meeting on May 7th, 2009, attendees were strongly focused on partnerships and collaborations among arts organizations as well as partnerships and collaborations among artists.

In response to the Community Input meeting on May 7th, the Lowell Cultural Council is setting the following priorities:

1. Arts education/appreciation in the form of programming, lectures, or events

2. City-wide public art projects

3. Subsidizing city-wide school collaborations with Lowell-based artists and cultural venues

In addition to these priorities, the Lowell Cultural Council proposes a challenge to grant applicants:

Challenge: Incorporate concepts from nanotechnology, biotechnology, and/or robotics.

Local Guidelines

Lowell Cultural Council grants are open to individual artists, arts organizations, community organizations and municipal agencies. All projects funded by the Lowell Cultural Council must be based in Lowell and must benefit the citizens of Lowell through exhibits, performances, readings, demonstrations or by other means. The Lowell Cultural Council prefers to fund local artists who live or work in the city. As a general rule the Lowell Cultural Council does not provide funding for operating support. We will accept a maximum of two (2) grants from an individual or organization.

The Lowell Cultural Council grant process is governed by requirements and regulations established by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, failure to comply may jeopardize a grant application. Additional information about the Massachusetts Cultural Council and its programs may be found at www.massculturalcouncil.org. The Lowell Cultural Council will holds a public meeting in September of each year to review funding priorities, guidelines and application procedures.

The Lowell Cultural Council is making members available to provide orientation workshops to artists and arts organizations. Individuals and organizations may request a workshop by contacting the Lowell Cultural Council via email at lowellculturalcouncil@gmail.com.

We have set a funding limit of $3000 for 2010. Please, do not submit grant requests for amounts greater than $3000.

Grants are awarded for the period 1/1/2010 to 12/31/2010.

The Lowell Cultural Council does not award PASS grants.

ALL applicants MUST submit one original and 13 collated and stapled, (for a total of 14) duplicate copies of their grant application including all supporting paper documentation. Duplicate copies of slides, video's, CD's, DVD's are not necessary. All applications must be POSTMARKED on or before Thursday, October 15, 2009. Applications must be sent to: Lowell Cultural Council, P.O. Box 8686, Lowell, MA 01853. Please note, applications are not opened until after the October 15th deadline. Application numbers are assigned on a random basis and are not dependent on when the application is delivered to the post office box. Please do not send your application certified or registered mail as we usually pick up our mail after regular hours . . . a request for signature can delay delivery of your application.

APPLICATION CHECKLIST:

• Have you included one (1) SIGNED original and thirteen (13) copies of your application (14 total)?

• Have you included one (1) original and thirteen (13) copies of the resumes of your key personnel (14 total)?

• Does your budget (Expenses on Left and Income on Right) balance?

• Have you postmarked (MAILED) your application by October 15, 2009? NOTE: Packages can be dropped off during normal business hours at the Cultural Affairs and Special Events office at City Hall, located on 375 Merrimack St., Lowell, Massachusetts, 01852.
Because the LCC has a Post Office Box, we do not accept registered or certified mail, nor any mail that requires a signature for delivery.

• PLEASE NOTE: Incomplete Applications will not be considered for funding!**

You will receive notification of the receipt of your grant application and an invitation to attend a meeting, either on Wednesday, November 4th, or Thursday, November 5th. It is at these meetings that the Council will ask questions about your application; while attendance at the meetings is not mandatory, it is strongly recommended that you or someone involved with your grant be available to answer any questions that Council Members might have. These meetings are strictly question and answer sessions, no presentations will be heard. The meetings start at 6:30 p.m., it is not necessary to attend the entire meeting, you will be given an approximate time to appear.

The balance of our grant cycle schedule is as follows:

Thursday, November 12th, 6:30p.m. The Council will discuss applications and vote on those applications that will receive funding.

Friday, November 13th, 6:30p.m. The Council will determine the amount of funding each successful grant will receive.

Thursday, December 3rd, 6:30p.m. Reconsideration meeting if required.

Grant Evaluation There are five major areas considered by council members in evaluating each grant application: 1) quality of project, 2) community benefit, 3) budget and funding, 4) planning, and 5) leadership.

The criteria used to evaluate these areas include:

1. Quality of Project - Is it creative? Does it have a specific focus and is that focus well defined? Is it engaging? Is it collaborative? Will the project enhance the cultural life of the city?

2. Community Benefit - How well does the project serve the residents of Lowell? How wide an audience is served? Does the project reflect priorities developed from the community input meeting? Is the target audience an underserved population?

3. Budget and Funding Support - Does the budget balance? Does the budget follow guidelines? Is the budget appropriate and clear? Are there other sources of funding or is LCC the sole source of funding? Is the project budget specific? Has this project been funded previously by LCC? Should this project be part of the city budget?

4. Planning - Are there well defined goals / targets? Is this a single event or an on-going project? If an on-going project is there a culminating event, activity or product that can act as a benchmark for evaluation? Is it clear that project planning has already taken place? Is the public program portion of this project accessible to individuals with disabilities?

5. Leadership - Does the leadership / staff have experience? Do personnel qualifications match the project needs? Is there evidence of past success in executing a similar project?

Things to remember: Applications MUST be typed. Please do not use a font size smaller than 10pt. Your budget MUST balance. The application must be signed.

All LCC grants are reimbursement based. Grant recipients submit a reimbursement request form accompanied by documentation that the project occurred (receipts, cancelled checks, program books) to the Council, the request is reviewed and then forwarded to the city for processing and payment. Although the reimbursement process has been streamlined, be aware that it can take up to 60 days to process a reimbursement. Plan accordingly. If you have any questions regarding the application process please contact us at lowellculturalcouncil@gmail.com.

Recognition requirement: Acknowledgment In all published materials and announcements regarding activities supported by the Lowell Cultural Council funds, the sponsoring individual or group must acknowledge this support with a written and/or verbal credit statement or by using the MCC logo. This credit is required by the MCC and failure to comply may jeopardize funding.

Credit Statement: “This program is supported in part by a grant from the Lowell Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by The Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.”

Grant Applicants

• Tips for Grant Applicants
• LCC Grant Application (PDF, 20 KB)

Grant Recipients

• LCC Reimbursement Form
• Credit and Publicity Kit for LCC and PASS Grant Recipients
• Download an MCC Credit Logo

FY 2010

Name	Project	Discipline	Amount
119 Gallery	XFest 2010	Media Arts	$3,000
African Cultural Association	10th Annual Celebration of African Cultural Festival	History	$2,000
Arts League of Lowell	Lowell Open Studios	Visual Arts	$2,500
Brush Art Gallery & Studios	Lowell Curator Cultivation Program	Visual Arts	$2,000
Cormier, Denis	Hands on History	History	$1,200
D'Youville Senior Care Foundation, Inc.	Concerts in D'Youville Park	Music	$2,000
Demers, Lolita	Visual Voices 4	Visual Arts	$2,000
Free Summer Art Program at Western Avenue Studios	Free Summer Art Program	Visual Arts	$1,250
FreeVerse!	FreeVerse! Program Spring 2010	Literature	$2,000
Hughes, Cynthia	Tea, Swords, and Stitches	Visual Arts	$1,969
Light of Cambodian Children	More Than a Number	History	$2,500
Lowell Celebrates Kerouac	LCK 2010 Festival	Multidisciplinary	$750
Lowell Festival Foundation	Art in the Courtyard	Crafts	$1,250
Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust	Concord River Public Art - Phase 3	Multidisciplinary	$2,500
Lowell Telecommunications Corporation	Youth Media Program	Visual Arts	$2,000
Lowell Telecommunications Corporation	Women's Stories	Multidisciplinary	$1,000
Lowell Youth Orchestra	LYO-Harlem Quartet	Music	$2,000
Merrimack Repertory Theatre	Future Initiative	Theater	$2,000
Merrimack Repertory Theatre	LHS Matinee	Theater	$1,000
New England Orchestra (NEO)	80th birthday with David Amram	Music	$1,000
O'Connor, Stephen	Publication of Short Story Collection	Literature	$750
Revolving Museum	Lowell at Your Doorstep Public Sculpture	Multidisciplinary	$3,000
Szava-Kovats, Andrew	The Last Farm in Lowell	Media Arts	$2,500
United Teen Equality Center	Youth Artist showcase	Visual Arts	$1,050
Utubor, Obehi Janice	FUFU+OREOS	Theater	$400
Welz Smith, Ashlee	Visiting Artists of Western Avenue Studios	Visual Arts	$1,750
Whistler House Museum of Art	Docent Training / Self-Guided Fact Sheets	History	$1,568
Winslow, Will	Children's Book Illustration	Visual Arts	$3,000