RAW gets $78G grant to expand

LYNN – As Lynn youth art nonprofit RAW Art Works prepares to more than double its ground-floor space this next year, it received a grant from the state to get the project started.The Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency supporting the arts and humanities, is giving RAW $78,000 to expand its youth arts and studio space in downtown Lynn.”We’re thrilled the MCC thinks that highly of our work and our mission and our role in the city of Lynn,” said Executive Director Kit Jenkins. RAW offers free art classes, film studies and more for local youth and has been in Lynn for 25 years.Gov. Deval Patrick announced the grant last week as part of a $5.2 million package to support capital projects for statewide arts and culture nonprofits.RAW was a recipient among high-profile projects such as Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Becket and the Worcester Art Museum.The grants are competitive because they go toward “unglamorous kind of capital needs organizations have,” said Gregory Liakos, communications director for MCC.”Roofs, boilers – kinds of things no big donors like to put their name on,” Liakos said.RAW Art Works will use the money to expand their 2,500-square-foot gallery at 37 Central Square next door. They’ll knock down a wall at 43 Central Square in September and hope to have the project done by this time next year, Jenkins said.The new space, called Gather @ Raw, will serve several purposes, from an art studio, to expanded programming for the community and youth, to the organization’s first-ever retail component, Jenkins said.”It gives us that much more of a footprint downtown to work with kids, families and neighbors, doing cool and art and culture,” she said.Even though they estimate they’ll need $1 million to get the project done – RAW is announcing its first-ever endowment to help – the MCC grant is a huge step forward, Jenkins said.Liakos said RAW and its expansion is a key part of downtown Lynn’s Cultural District, a designation the MCC gave to downtown Lynn last year that encompasses the area’s thriving art scene.”They’re so well connected to the Lynn community and the greater North Shore, and kind of achieving that mission of helping young people make that transition to adulthood,” Laikos said. “We’re really proud to be a partner in helping them grow.”The grant capped off a great week for RAW: Jenkins and RAW founder Mary Flannery also won an excellence in leadership award from Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, another award they took home out of 171 nominees.Amber Phillips can be reached at [email protected].