Artists gather at AIC’s North Berkshire Artist Meet-Up at Williams Inn, Summer 2019
MEDIA RELEASE: MASS MoCA APPROVED FOR MAJOR NEA “OUR TOWN” GRANT FOR NORTH ADAMS ARTIST IMPACT COALITION
NORTH ADAMS – The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art is thrilled to announce that it was one of a select number of initiatives the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) approved for a major “Our Town” grant in FY2021-2022.
Selected as one of just 51 grants nationwide in this category, the two-year, $100,000 matching grant will support the North Adams Artist Impact Coalition, a collaborative initiative designed to maximize artist support in the North Adams community and better connect artists to regional resources and to each other. The Coalition, which formed last year, is spearheaded by MASS MoCA’s Assets for Artists Program alongside the City of North Adams and other area arts stakeholders such as the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Installation Space Art Gallery, Common Folk Artist Collective, Walkaway House Artist Residency, and a number of local, practicing artists.
The announcement from the NEA comes as the North Adams Artist Impact Coalition disperses $20,000 of other funding in rapid response working capital grants to 20 city artists whose artistic businesses have been significantly damaged by the coronavirus outbreak. These grants are paired with additional educational support in the form of 1-on-1 mentorship from Coalition members along with webinars on how to sustain a creative business under these new conditions.
“MASS MoCA’s Assets for Artists program has more than a decade-long track record of investing in artists throughout our region with this type of multi-pronged support,” says Blair Benjamin, the program’s founder and director. “We’ve seen artists make exciting progress from our support, and we’re thrilled to significantly expand that work in North Adams with the help of our Coalition partners and this NEA grant funding.”
The North Adams Artist Impact Coalition also hosts quarterly artist meetups around the North Berkshire region, designed the city’s first Artist Census in early 2020, and planned an artist materials swap, which is currently postponed until later this year.
The new Our Town grant will support the expansion of the Artist Impact Coalition’s existing work with a focus on creating new resources for artists to thrive in the City of North Adams.
“The creative economy is a large sector in this region, and it’s no secret it has been deeply impacted by the pandemic,” says Jess Sweeney, a North Adams City Councilor, the director of Common Folk Artist Collective, and a Coalition member. “This grant will go a long way to preserve the fabric of our creative world here in North Adams and simultaneously support artists in navigating the rapidly changing industry.”
A public call for additional projects that will strengthen the livelihoods of North Adams artists is expected early next year.
About MASS MoCA
MASS MoCA is one of the world’s liveliest (and largest) centers for making, showing, and enjoying today’s most important art, music, dance, theater, film, and video. MASS MoCA nearly doubled its gallery space in spring 2017, with artist partnerships that include Laurie Anderson, the Louise Bourgeois Trust, Jenny Holzer, and James Turrell.
Gallery admission is $20 for adults, $18 for veterans and seniors, $12 for students, $8 for children 6 to 16, and free for children 5 and under. Members are admitted free year-round. The Hall Art Foundation’s Anselm Kiefer exhibition is seasonal and currently closed for the season. For additional information, call 413.662.2111 x1 or visit massmoca.org.
Assets for Artists is a program of MASS MoCA dedicated to helping artists in all disciplines strengthen their financial and business capacity to sustain a lifetime of creative excellence. Learn more at www.assetsforartists.org.
The North Adams Artist Impact Coalition is an independent collaborative of arts stakeholders from North Adams, MA. To learn more about the Coalition or see a full list of coalition members, visit explorenorthadams.com/item/north-adams-artist-impact-coalition