Lynn arts community scores big with grant

LYNN – Help is on the way for the city’s arts community.LynnArts, the gallery and performing arts center at 25 Exchange St. in Central Square, learned Wednesday it that it will have $41,690 to distribute to local artists and to educational and cultural groups.Susan Halter, executive director of LynnArts, said the organization’s Grants Committee will dole out the financial awards in the form of Local Cultural Grants and Pass Grants. The funds en route to Lynn were made available through the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) and represented one of the largest awards.Halter noted the local grants will go to the following recipients: the Lynn Museum & Historical Society, Follow Hymn Music Ministries, Music at Edens Edge, Dancer’s Courageous, Raw Art Works (RAW), LynnArts, Inc., Denise Doucette, Handel & Hayden Society, Trés, North Shore Caribbean Association, Claire Wilson, Veterans for Peace, Imaginary Beasts, John Root, the Central Square Coffee House, the Lynn Public Library, Friends of Lynn & Nahant Beach, Sara Ting, Delvena Theatre Company, Friends of Lynn Heritage State Park, Gregory Maichack, Greater Lynn Arts & Crafts Society, Davis Bates & Roger Tincknell, Bridgewater Antiphonal Brass, Richard Clark, Collaborative Artworks, Ford School Principal Claire Crane, Express Yourself, artist Yetti Frenkel, Harborlight Show Chorus, Jackson Schultz Middle School, KIPP Academy, Lynn Community Elder Services, Lynn English High School, Mass Theatrica, Mike Myers, Dave Parsons, Nancy Sarles, and Sheila Vitale.Pass Award recipients are given funds to cover ticket costs for schools attending cultural events. According to Halter, the following organizations received Pass Awards: the Breed Middle School, Lincoln-Thompson Elementary School PTA, Sacred Heart Elementary School, Lynn English High School, Shoemaker Elementary School, Sisson Elementary School, Summer of Discovery at North Shore Community College and the Washington Community Magnet School.The Lynn Cultural Council is a program of the MCC, a state agency that provides funding to each of the state’s 351 cities and towns in the form of support for cultural activities. The MCC is the largest program of its kind in the U.S. and is designed to provide funding for arts, artists, humanities, and interpretive sciences at the grassroots level. Grants range from $200 to $2,000, though most awards are between $200 and $500.For more information, log on to the MCC website at http://www.massculturalcouncil.org/, or contact Halter at (781)598-5244.