NORTHAMPTON – On Sept. 14, Massachusetts Cultural Council and its partners visited the Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity on 130 Pine St. in Northampton to celebrate fiscal year 2022 Cultural Facilities Fund (CFF) grants awarded to cultural organizations throughout Western Massachusetts.

Representatives from cultural organizations across Western Masachusetts that received these funds were joined by state legislators and Northampton city officials to celebrate the achievement.

According to Massachusetts Cultural Council Executive Director Michael Bobbitt, the Massachusetts Cultural Council and MassDevelopment jointly announced last May a new round of CFF funds that totaled over $13 million for nonprofit municipal and cultural organizations in the state. A little over $3.3 million went toward these institutions in Western Massachusetts alone. For this specific round, 115 grantees were awarded, and 21 out of those 115 were first-time recipients of the CFF grant, while 10 are first-time recipients of the capital grant. “Supporting those organizations really advances our racial and equity goals,” said Bobbitt. “All of this is made possible because of the support of the legislature and the Baker-Polito administration.”

Managed in collaboration with MassDevelopment, CFF grants provide major improvements to nonprofit cultural organizations, in recognition of their profound economic impact on communities across Massachusetts. According to the Massachusetts Cultural Council website, since 2006, the fund has encouraged sound growth, supported important development projects, played a crucial role in the growth of local tourism, created thousands of jobs and has driven millions of dollars in private investment.

The CFF grant this year includes $162,000 to acquire and renovate the 150-year-old Florence Congregational Church to create Bombyx; a performing arts venue, spiritual center and community resource. It also includes $7,000 for a systems replacement plan at Bombyx, as well as $106,000 for Historic Northampton to construct public restrooms, a small kitchenette and prep room, storage room, dressing rooms and a green room space.

The grant also awards the Northampton Community Arts Trust with $150,000 for lobby renovations, including the build-out of the box office, concession area and art gallery.

Speakers during the celebration included Bobbitt, state Sen. Jo Comerford, state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra, state Rep. Dan Carey, MassDevelopment President and CEO Dan Rivera and state Rep. Mindy Domb.

“There’s so much creativity and vitality bursting here in Florence,” said Sciarra. “The entrepreneurial activity and artistic expression are guaranteed to keep this part of our state thriving into the future.”

Comerford added, “The arts and culture sector is the heartbeat of our community. It’s what makes us in Western Massachusetts thrive, and breed, and connect with each other, and both new ideas.”

In addition, $90,000 of the grant was also awarded to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art for foundation and exterior repairs, new entrance doors, outdoor lighting, new ionization systems, replaced cooling tower baffles, and to establish a well for landscape watering.

Another $200,000 is awarded to Amherst’s Jones Library for upgraded mechanical systems and accessibility measures in the Burnett Art Gallery. Domb, meanwhile, reflected on the importance of this funding to her district as a whole, which includes Amherst, Pelham and Granby.

“In my district in particular, arts and culture is an economic development driver,” said Domb. “It’s not something extra. It’s something that feeds our soul and puts food on our tables.”

A full list for the grant recepients can be found at https://massculturalcouncil.org/organizations/cultural-facilities-fund/project-list/?region=western&year_of=2022.