Music and arts organizations in Massachusetts received $1,097,500 in grants from the National Endowment for the Arts this year to help fund community projects. Over $400,000 of this amount was given to music programs across the state.
Over 4,500 communities nationwide were awarded grants for their arts programs. Nonprofits from all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia received funding for a range of performance and arts education programs.
Jane Chu, the NEA chairman, said in a press release that it was “energizing” to further the impact of arts programs around the United States.
“At the National Endowment for the Arts, we believe that all people should have access to the joy, opportunities and connections the arts bring,” Chu said.
Chu said the NEA provides opportunities for Americans to use their imaginations and creativity through projects that bring their communities together to create art.
“These NEA-supported projects are good examples of how the arts build stronger and more vibrant communities, improve well-being, prepare our children to succeed and increase the quality of our lives,” Chu said in the release.
The Handel and Haydn Society, a chorus and orchestra group located in Boston, was awarded $45,000 to go toward their performances of George Frideric Handel’s “Hercules” and community and education programming.
David Snead, the president and CEO of the Handel and Haydn Society, said in a press release that the grant will enable the group to further the audience’s understanding of “Hercules” and enhancing the overall concert experience.
“We are incredibly appreciative of the support of the NEA in helping us to bring Classical and Baroque music to life,” Snead said.
Both the Berklee College of Music and Boston University received grants of $25,000 each. The money sent to Berklee will be used to fiscally help their Beantown Jazz Festival and Boston University will use their money to support the Tanglewood Institute Young Artists Orchestra and Young Artists Wind Ensemble, according to the official grant list.
Hilary Field Respass, the executive director of the Tanglewood Institute, said the kids and the faculty involved in the program are the real reason why they were able to receive this grant.
“We send in work samples, recordings of the kids playing, and they are playing at such a high, excellent level that we receive extremely high marks for artistic excellence for the program and we also receive very, very high marks for the level of the faculty who we engage in the program,” Respass said in an interview.
Michael Bloom, 53, of Back Bay, said he is excited to see how organizations around Boston will use the money from the NEA to further the arts.
“Boston is already such an artistic and musical city,” Bloom said. “That’s why we got all these grants in the first place. I can’t wait to see this money put to good use in our city’s art programs.”
To be eligible to receive grants, organizations must submit applications with their program’s budget and promise to match the grant one-to-one with donations.
Experts outside the NEA then assess each project to determine the impact it will have and if the project will help an underserved community. Recommendations are then passed on to the National Council on the Arts who send finalists to the chairman of the NEA.
Alex Klein, 28, of Brighton, said he appreciates the NEA’s generosity and commitment to helping communities improve their artistic programs.
“I’m a musician myself and growing up and going to school, we didn’t have a whole lot of music equipment,” Klein said. “It would’ve meant the world to me as a little kid to receive a new instrument or really anything to help me further my passion for music.”
Becca Bennett, 30, of Brighton, said she thinks arts programs are valuable to the education of Boston’s youth and hopes the grants will go toward musical education.
“Learning through music is one of the most creative and helpful methods of learning,” Bennett said. “The young students in Boston could really benefit from a creative curriculum like that.”
Sarika Ram and Hannah Schoenbaum contributed to the reporting of this article.
