BOSTON – Today Mass Cultural Council announces the 398 recipients of Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) organizational support grants, through the Operating Grants for Organizations and Cultural Investment Portfolio programs. In total, $7.2 million is being awarded, a critical public investment into to the cultural sector.
Both programs offer multi-year funding to cultural nonprofits, the awards are unrestricted and are intended to help the recipients with financial stability, allowing them to use the funds to target any operating need.
“Across Massachusetts, cultural organizations keep our communities vibrant by bringing people together through creativity, history and diverse perspectives,” said Michael J. Bobbitt, Executive Director, Mass Cultural Council. “These investments fortify cultural nonprofits, empowering them to focus on what matters most – their mission, their people, and their community – so they can adapt, endure, and continue uplifting spirits across the Commonwealth.”
As the Commonwealth’s independent state arts agency, Mass Cultural Council is charged with bolstering the cultural sector, thereby advancing economic vitality, supporting transformational change, and celebrating, preserving, and inspiring creativity across all Massachusetts communities.
This year, these programs are continuing their multi-year investment into 301 previously approved nonprofits, as well as welcoming 67 newly approved Operating Grants for Organizations recipients. The FY26 grant round was extremely competitive, as Mass Cultural Council received 368 eligible applications. Funding 67 new organizations represents a success rate of just over 18%.
The 67 new grantees are small, mid and large organizations, reporting operating budgets ranging from $52,000 to $4.6 million a year. - 54 of the 67 new organizations are receiving operating support for the first time from Mass Cultural Council.
- 34% of the 67 organizations self-describe as being BIPOC-centered, meaning they are led by, or primarily serve, communities that are Black, Indigenous, or comprised of People of Color.
Last year Mass Cultural Council released a Cultural Asset Inventory, which identified more than 15,000 cultural organizations operating in Massachusetts. This data, as well as the Agency’s Strategic Plan and equity goals, continues to inform Mass Cultural Council’s program guidelines and strategic outreach.
In Massachusetts, arts and culture generate $29.7 billion annually, support over 130,000 jobs, and contribute 4% of the state’s economy. Yet new national data from SMU DataArts, the country’s leading center for arts research, reveal mounting financial pressures on cultural nonprofits. Against this backdrop, Mass Cultural Council’s grant investments are not only timely, but essential to sustaining the sector’s vitality and resilience.
“We are extremely pleased that we connected with 54 new cultural organizations this year who have never benefitted from our operating support programs in the past,” said Bobbitt. “Our mandate from the governing Council is to equitably invest our public resources into as many eligible recipients as possible, and I am thrilled to welcome these new organizations into our programming.”
The complete FY26 funding lists for the Cultural Investment Portfolio and Operating Grants for Organizations programs are available online. Some examples of first-time recipients and their programming include:
Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, Chatham
Through their Shark Smart Beach program, AWSC educators set up an outreach booth on popular, local beaches to engage with the public and answer questions about white shark activity and behaviors, promote Shark Smart guidelines, and direct beachgoers to the resources available to them on white shark research.
Bellforge Arts Center, Medfield
Bellforge has created an arts center located in two buildings in the heart of the historic former State Hospital campus in Medfield. The buildings are being preserved and renovated to create the Bellforge Arts Center: a performing arts, music, culture, and education center, with a flexible 300-seat performance venue, classrooms, artist studios, and rehearsal spaces. Their plans for further development include dance/movement studios, accommodations for artists-in-residence, a black box theater, a community makerspace, and a culinary arts center with commercial kitchens for entrepreneurs, visiting chefs, and classes.
Circus Up, Watertown
This organization teaches many disciplines of circus, including juggling and object manipulation, balance skills (stilts, unicycles, tightwire, and globe), partner acrobatics, tumbling, and aerials. In addition to circus education, we also engage in activities such as team-building games (to support skills such as communication and trust), collaborative challenges, and physical puzzles (to foster problem-solving and creativity), as well as formal check-ins at the beginning and end of classes (developing strong relationships, along with a structured routine).
Drug Story Theater, Marshfield
Drug Story Theater takes teens in the early stages of recovery, teaches them improvisational theater, and helps them craft their own unique stories into a play about their seduction of, addiction to and recovery from drugs and alcohol. The play is then performed for middle school, high school, college and community audiences so “the treatment of one becomes the prevention of many.”
Hilltown Youth Performing Arts Program, Heath
The Theatre brings together student-performers from all over the region to train and collaborate on theatrical productions at a high level. It is part of an effort to use theater to create a larger sense of community that transcends buildings and school campuses. It instills in young people a sense of place and a passion for the arts. The program serves youth of diverse backgrounds, lived experiences, and gender identities. The Theater’s year-round after-school program and summer camp supports a high proportion of disadvantaged youth in Western Massachusetts who otherwise would not have access to arts and culture.
Multiverse Concert Series, Boston
Multiverse offers multidisciplinary programs which feature sophisticated and specialized visual productions, original live music specifically composed for the production, and educational presentations from scientists working at the forefront of their field. Their core partner venues include the Museum of Science, Boston, Christa McAuliffe Center, Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian and Harvard Museum of Natural History. Alongside general audience programming, they make onsite presentations at public schools throughout the Commonwealth, generally middle schools and high schools, offered at low or no cost to the school.
3rd Eye Youth Empowerment, New Bedford
3rd Eye is a dynamic, all-volunteer, youth development organization dedicated to empowering young leaders and transforming communities through skill-based mentoring, the arts, and grassroots activism. The name "3rd Eye" symbolizes the ability to critically evaluate and engage with life’s situations—an approach rooted in the core values of hip hop culture. By focusing on economic and social equality, 3rd Eye is committed to creating spaces where youth can find their voices and actively participate in driving positive social change. |
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