Weston Announces 2014 Grantees

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: January 21, 2014

Contact: Cheryl Alpert, LCC Member/Publicist

Phone: 617-308-8033

E-mail: cjalpert@gmail.com

LOCAL GRANTS AWARDED FOR WESTON

Representative Alice Peisch and Audrey Pepper, chair of the Weston Cultural Council, have announced the award of the 12 grants for FY 2014, totaling over $4500 for cultural programs in Weston.

According to Pepper, this is one of the broadest scopes of programs ever witnessed by the Town. “We are very proud of the diversity of grant recipients this year to include the visual arts, performing arts, science, and the humanities.” A complete list of recipients and grant amounts can be found on the following page.

The Weston 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.

Decisions about which activities to support are made at the community level by a board of municipally appointed volunteers. The members of the Weston Cultural Council are:

·      Audrey Pepper

·      Cheryl Alpert

·      Laura Lamere

·      Inge Thorn Engler

·      Marna Kennedy

·      Fang Lui

·      Carmenelisa Perez-Kudzma

·      Alisa Taylor-Kapoor 

Rep. Alice Peisch enthused, “I think it is so wonderful to see the breath and scope of our local talent. The Council is made up of dedicated volunteers who are committed to bringing to Weston new groups—grants this year will benefit individuals of all ages ranging from children in all grades through senior citizens.”

Statewide, more than $2.34 million will be distributed by local cultural councils in FY2014. Grants will support an enormous range of grass-roots activities: concerts, exhibitions, radio and video productions, field trips for schoolchildren, after-school youth programs, writing workshops, historical preservation efforts, lectures, First Night celebrations, nature and science education programs for families and town festivals. Nearly half of LCC funds support educational activities for young people.

The Weston Cultural Council will seek applications again in the fall. Information and forms are available online at mass-culture.org. The postmark deadline is October 15, 2014 for FY ’15.

The Center for Arts in Natick

Rock Off Main Street: teen rock band performances

Monthly throughout 2014

The Rock Off Main Street program features the best upcoming pop, emo, punk, ska, hardcore and indie bands in the Boston area. ROM provides teen musicians and their bands from the greater Metrowest region an opportunity to perform for a live audience with professional sound amplification, stage lighting and production.

natickarts.org

Music Serving Elders, Inc.

Musical Visits for Elders

6 programs throughout 2014

Programs at Epoch Senior Living and Memory Unit including familiar tunes/”sing-alongs” accompanied by piano, guitar, harmonica, and/or voice. Repetoire includes song styles from a broad range of genres—pop, Broadway, rock n’roll, jazz, blues, folk, classical, etc. These performances will serve seniors of varied ethinicities and with a range of disabilities and conditions.

Walden Forum

September 10, 2013 – May 2014

Walden Forum Distinguished Speaker Series presents live public discussions in the arts, humanities, social sciences and interpretative sciences as well as other areas of general interest. All are filmed and recorded by public access TV for distribution to our Public Community Public Access TV providing access to our surrounding communities.

Solstice Sackbuts

Concert by the Solstice Sackbuts

February 2, 2014

The chamber trio takes audiences on a musical tour through the centuries, starting with medieval and Renaissance music and continuing with Baroque, Classical, contemporary and ending with pop and jazz.

Weston Council on Aging

Winter/Spring 2014

Ukulele Instruction

The Council on Aging is offering ukulele lessons. It has been shown that musical instrument training, when compared to other activities, may reduce the effects of age-related memory and cognitive decline.

Spellman Museum of Stamps & Postal History

Massachusetts on Stamps

February – December 2014

Creation of a new exhibit, educational program and materials using postage stamps and postal history to highlight and celebrate the persons, places and events in the history of Massachusetts from colonial times to the present.

Contemporary Arts International, Inc.

2014 Stone Carving Symposium-August 1 – August 21, 2014

The fourth year of the Symposium that carries out the continuous effort for the “New Art Archeology” concept and continues to bring artists to transform the stones on the stone pile into sculpture and create an archeological landmark for the future.

The Discovery Museum

Free Friday Night Fun

Summer 2014

The Discovery Museum will open for free to all visitors every Friday night throughout the summer of 2014.  These family-friendly evenings will offer free exploration of museum exhibits, plus a wide range of entertaining outdoor activities, food and fun, with a variety of offerings.

Ed the Wizard

Reading is Magic: Alchemy Laboratory

October 2014

A 45 minute interactive magic performance emphasizing the value and importance of building and maintaining reading skills.

Program at the Weston Public Library

Larry Grob

Weston’s Nature through a Landscape Painter’s Eyes

October 2014

Artist Talk – Present will present his paintings of Weston views, talk about the pastel medium and technique, including plein air work.  Will also discuss other artists’ examples of local landscape painting (historical and contemporary.)

Program at the Weston Public Library

Weston HS Theatre/MA Educational Theater Guild

Massachusetts High School Drama Festival

March 15, 2014

The Mass. H.S. Drama Festival is the MA Educational Theater Guild’s largest event which annually draws an average of 115 participating schools. Weston HS Theatre and director, John Minigan have partnered with the METG to host the semi-final round of the drama festival.

John Sebastyen

String Duo Concert at Weston Library

March 30, 2014

String Duet Concert with John Sebastyen, violin and Jacob Litoff, violoin and viola. The repertoire will draw from around the time Mozart to more recent classical gems by Urs Joseph Flury, Ernst-Lothar von Knorr and possibly some duets from the 19th century.

Program at the Weston Public Library.