2,400 volunteers across the state comprise community boards that review applications from individuals, schools, and organizations to fund field trips, after school programs, concerts and festivals. Cultural activities take place in community centers, elder care facilities, libraries, parks, schools, town halls - wherever communities come together - to improve resident's lives. Exemplary LCC projects are eligible to be further recognized by the Gold Star Program. LCCs also review applications for a student ticket subsidy program, called the PASS Program.

How the LCC Program Works
Massachusetts Cultural Council has overseen the LCC Program since 1990. MCC receives funding from an annual state appropriation. Each year, the MCC distributes funds to LCCs; in turn, LCCs make grants to schools, organizations and individuals in their communities.

Distributions to each LCC are based on a local aid formula devised by the state. The formula takes into account population and property values, and is weighted to give larger distributions to poorer communities.

Local Values Govern Grantmaking
Local Cultural Council members value local decision-making. Community input meetings help them to craft local guidelines which shape their grant-making. LCC volunteers represent a cross-section of their communities; they are artists, business people, lawyers, librarians, homemakers, parents, and teachers. Five to 22 LCC members are appointed by each community's highest elected official, for up to two consecutive three-year terms.

LCC Facts and Figures

• More than 8,600 grant applications were reviewed by LCCs in FY09. 5,360 grants were approved and more than $3.2 million in grants were awarded.

• 48 percent of FY09 LCC grants - (more than 2,600 grants, totaling over 1.4 million)- were awarded to projects supporting educational activities for children in the arts, humanities and sciences.

• More than $230,000 was distributed to schools in FY09 for field trips to cultural organizations through the LCC's PASS Program. This subsidized close to 30,000 tickets for young people to attend performing arts events and museum exhibitions.

• The Gold Star Awards recognize exemplary LCC-funded projects that celebrate diversity, foster collaboration, showcase artistic excellence, and provide learning experiences for people of all ages and backgrounds. In FY09, seven projects received a Gold Star Award from MCC.

• To respond to the cultural needs of their communities, many Local Cultural Councils develop their own programs or performances. In FY09, 10 LCCs used a portion of their MCC funds for projects such as the Grafton Fine Arts and Music Festival, a three-day event celebrating artists and musicians throughout the Blackstone Valley.

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