The Gloucester Arts and Cultural Initiative (ACI) is excited to announce the receipt of a $5,000 lead gift to its Campaign for the Arts. An anonymous donor will match the next $5,000 in contributions to ACI dollar for dollar. ACI seeks donors to help meet this donor’s challenge and double the power of their gift by giving today. All gifts will help meet the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) Adams Grant minimum fundraising requirement of $16,800 by June 30, 2016.
ACI invites people who live and work in Gloucester to take the lead in building Gloucester’s communities through arts and culture by supporting the Campaign for the Arts. To make a tax deductible donation, please press the donate button on our Facebook Page, @GloucesterArtsAndCulture, or send a check made payable to our Fiscal Agent “Rocky Neck Art Colony/ACI” to Gloucester Arts and Culture Initiative, 6 Wonson St, Gloucester, MA 01930.
The Gloucester Arts and Cultural Initiative was founded in 2015 by Rocky Neck Art Colony, seARTS and ArtsGloucester to address ongoing needs in arts and culture identified in Gloucester’s 2001 Community Development Plan. Today, backed by more than fifty collaborators and a $45,500 two-year Adams Grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC), the Gloucester Arts and Cultural Initiative is a unique opportunity to leverage these resources and the mandate to reach the goal set in the 2001 Plan. The mission of ACI is to support the City’s arts and cultural heritage sector and to strengthen and promote the cultural vitality of the City’s waterfront and neighborhoods.
Background
The Gloucester Arts and Culture Initiative (ACI), an exciting opportunity to build community through arts and culture. Dedicated to sustaining Gloucester’s rich heritage of cultural traditions and artistic accomplishments, ACI aims to broaden awareness, participation, and enjoyment of arts and culture for everyone who lives or works in Gloucester. Together, we will rejuvenate of our sense of place and foster diverse creative expression within our city. The need for such an Initiative has been recognized for over 15 years, and today Gloucester is well positioned to act on that need.
In 2001, Gloucester’s Community Development Plan set a goal “to support Gloucester’s arts and cultural community as a cultural and economic resource by integrating the arts and culture into the life of the community, downtown, and in villages and neighborhoods.” It went on to identify areas for action and specific goals, and it recommended that a municipal arts organization take the lead in moving Gloucester towards them. Three new arts groups responded, and they have achieved crucial results, but fifteen years later, no group has been established with the authority and resources needed to fulfill the highest and most far-reaching goal of broad integration of Gloucester’s communities, artists, businesses, organizations, and government through support of arts and culture. Our research confirms that this goal remains as important as ever to our community.
Today, backed by more than fifty collaborators and a $45,500 two-year Adams Grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC), the Gloucester Arts and Culture Initiative has a unique opportunity to fulfill the mandate of the 2001 Community Development Plan.
ACI will celebrate Gloucester’s strong cultural heritage and use it as a bridge to a future that recognizes the creative expression all around us and the value it brings to our lives, our community, and our world. As Gloucester’s umbrella arts and culture organization, ACI will work with the broader community in three principal roles:
1. Catalyst
ACI will serve as a catalyst for projects and collaborations that address unmet needs and pursue opportunities for creative expression.
In this role, ACI hosted four Ward Forums in April 2016 in which over 70 participants identified development of studio and performance space as a top area of need. Participants also expressed hopes for expanding the range of Gloucester citizens who experience, appreciate, understand, make, perform, and participate in arts and culture. ACI will host future forums to explore ways for groups to work together to address identified needs efficiently, uncovering synergies and overlapping goals to strengthen groups and address gaps in support for the full range of our community.
2. Manager
ACI will manage arts and culture initiatives to address identified needs.
In this role, ACI will partner with local businesses, arts groups, and elected officials to identify underutilized spaces and create zoning overlays to provide needed visual and performance studio spaces, with an aim to cluster artists together to promote creative collaborations, innovations, and economies of scale.
3. Clearinghouse
ACI will act as a clearinghouse for information about resources of interest to local organizations and artists.
In this role, ACI will gather and disseminate information about grants, business courses for artists, marketing partners, municipal contacts, and more. By serving as the Gloucester’s central point of contact for artists, cultural organizations, event organizers, and creative businesses, ACI will foster connections, collaborations, synergy, and innovative ideas that enrich our lives and community.
To complete the establishment of a successful program, the Gloucester Arts and Culture Initiative needs to do two things: build awareness of the Initiative, and raise $16,800 in matching funds required by the MCC Adams Grant. Our Campaign for the Arts aims both to open the door to continued significant support for Gloucester from the state of Massachusetts and to begin to assume an umbrella role by building broad public awareness and support. We are currently seeking generous lead donors to help fuel a campaign to educate the community and gain support for the Initiative.
Campaign for the Arts
1 x $15,000 one donor — accomplished as MATCH (anonymous donor)
2 x $12,500 two donors
5 x $11,000 five donors
5 x $11,800 multiple donors
Total 5 x $16,800 matching funds required by MCC grant
ACI invites friends of Gloucester to take the lead in building Gloucester’s communities through arts and culture by supporting the Campaign for the Arts. Should you care to make a tax deductible donation, please press the donate button on our Facebook Page, @GloucesterArtsAndCulture, or send a check made payable to our fiscal agent “Rocky Neck Art Colony/ACI” to Gloucester Arts and Culture Initiative, 6 Wonson St, Gloucester MA 01930. Thank you for supporting and being part of Gloucester!
Project Manager
Martha Wood
Program Partners
Rocky Neck Art Colony
seARTS
ArtsGloucester
Steering Committee
Henry Allen
Jo-Ann Castano
James Caviston
Jo-Anne Crawford
Tom Daniel
Robert Haverkamp
Judith Hoglander
Suzanne Gilbert Lee
Brenda Malloy
Valerie Nelson
Martin Ray
Matthew Swift
CONTACTS:
Martha Wood
Project Manager
Gloucester Arts and Culture Initiative
Martha@GloucesterArtsAndCulture.org
(978) 857-6731
Matthew Swift
Steering Committee
Gloucester Arts and Culture Initiative
(978) 491-7785
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