On Tuesday, March 21, the Newton Cultural Alliance hosted the Newton recipients of nearly $2 million in Cultural Sector Recovery Grants from the Mass Cultural Council. Thirty-three Newton-based organizations and thirty-seven Newton residents were among the 5,218 Massachusetts recipients of the one-time pandemic-recovery grant programs. Organization grants ranged from $5K to $75K; individual artists were awarded $5K each.
Adrienne Hartzell Knudsen, Newton Cultural Alliance Managing Director, welcomed the more than seventy celebration attendees and thanked Newton’s state legislators for their on-going support.
State Senator Cynthia Creem and her colleague, State Representative Ruth Balser, were on hand to mark the MCC grants. Senator Creem said, “I’m thrilled that we have such strong support for our arts and culture programs. We are so lucky to have such talented individuals in Newton.”
That sentiment was echoed by State Representative Ruth Balser, who noted, “I’m proud to support state funding for the arts, and also proud that so many recipients are our talented Newton artists. The arts enrich the life of our community, and it is a pleasure to be together tonight to celebrate that.”
For State Representative Kay Khan, the evening had special significance since she is a founding board member of the Newton Cultural Alliance and a twenty-eight-year member of the board of Newton’s New Philharmonia Orchestra. She said, “I would like to thank Adrienne Hartzell Knudsen, Managing Director of both NCA and the New Phil, for organizing this evening’s event and to be joined by Michael Bobbitt, Executive Director of the MCC, to honor the many artists and organizations in Newton. With a once-in-a-lifetime $51 million MCC Cultural Sector Recovery Grant, supported by the legislature, we celebrate the importance of arts and culture in our lives and the many artists who will continue to surround us with the richness of arts and culture and their many contributions to our community.”
Mayor Fuller was also on hand to celebrate local recipients. Ward 3 Councilor-at-Large Pam Wright, Ward 5 Ward Councilor Bill Humphrey, and Ward 3 School Committee member Anping Shen were among the more than seventy guests who came to the Great Hall in the Allen House to celebrate Newton’s artists. Grant recipient Tamar Shalvashvili, a native of the country of Georgia and now a Waban resident, is a blind pianist, and she delighted the audience with her performance.
The Executive Director of the Mass Cultural Council, Michael Bobbitt, congratulated the recipients and described the Council’s work in promoting and preserving arts and artists in the aftermath of the pandemic. Deputy Executive Director Dave Slatery and Inclusion Officer Charles Baldwin came to underscore the Council’s support for diversity and inclusion in selecting grantees.
Adrienne Hartzell Knudsen summed up the grants and the event: “It was a great day when the devastated creative community across the Commonwealth learned that the Legislature had approved funding in the amount of $51 million to help the creative sector of our economy recover from the devastating effects of the globe pandemic. And I think it was an even greater day when all those recipients in the room tonight learned they had received an unrestricted grant from the MCC as a result of this funding. Michael Bobbitt and his amazing team at the MCC have done yeoman’s work always but particularly up against the myriad of challenges the pandemic brought to the arts. We celebrate with joy the work of the both the Legislature and the MCC. Thank you.”
