Jodie S. Garzón, chair of the Millis Cultural Council, has announced the award of eight grants totaling $4,620, for cultural programs in Millis in 2017. Grant recipients include the Millis Recreation Department’s Summer Concert Series, Nate Maltinsky and the Millis Historical Commission for their project to restore the Currier and Ives firehouse etchings, Sandra Elaine Scott for a Memoir Writing Workshop and Millis High School student Benjamin Clark’s project, “Through a Soldier’s Eyes” in which interviews of elderly veterans in Millis will be transcribed and then printed in hardbound books alongside pictures that capture some of their experiences in the military for future generations.
The Millis Cultural Council is part of a network of 329 Local Cultural Councils serving all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth. The LCC Program is the largest grassroots cultural funding network in the nation, supporting thousands of community-based projects in the arts, sciences and humanities every year. The state legislature provides an annual appropriation to the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, which then allocates funds to each community. Each year, local councils award more than $3 million in grants to more than 5,000 cultural programs statewide. These include school field trips, afterschool programs, concerts, festivals, lectures, theater, dance, music, and film. LCC projects take place in schools, community centers, libraries, elder care facilities, town halls, parks, and wherever communities come together
Decisions about which activities to support are made at the community level by a board of municipally appointed volunteers. The members of the Millis Cultural Council are: Jodie Garzón, Chair; Michele Kelly, Treasurer; Stephanie Copice, Clerk; Patrick Neville; Arlene Lagos and Dove Quinlan. The Council is seeking at least three additional members from Millis interested in enhancing the quality of life in Millis through the funding of local arts and cultural projects in Millis.
Anyone interested in joining the Millis Cultural Council can download a volunteer form on the town website or send an email to millisculturalcouncil@gmail.com for more information.
The 2017 Millis Cultural Council grant recipients are: Millis Recreation Department, Summer Concert Series: $500; Big Smile Entertainment, “It’s a Great Day for the Irish” Concert, $400; Thea Iberall, “We did it for You! Women’s Journey Through History,” $400; Benjamin Clark, “Through a Soldier’s Eyes,” $280; Nathan Maltinsky, Currier & Ives Artwork Restoration, $640; Robert Zammarchi, “Super Cool Beans, $750; Sandra Elaine Scott, “Everyone Has a Story: Memoir Writing Workshop,” $350; Mass Audubon Society, Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary, “Mindfulness in Nature: A Guided Meditation Walk” $300; Seele Musicale Chamber Ensemble, “Seele Musicale Concert,” $600, Millis Public Library, “3D Modeling and Printing Classes,” $400.
Issue Date:
February, 2017
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