EASTHAMPTON – Easthampton City Arts+ on Thursday will begin accepting applications for $8,400 in grants in its latest round of local arts funding.
ECA+ is seeking applications for programming and projects in the arts, humanities and certain sciences that benefit the residents of Easthampton. The agency will award grants totaling $8,400, funded by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, according to Christy Crutchfield, chairwoman of the ECA+ Grants Committee.
Applications are due Oct. 17. Decisions will be announced by January, Crutchfield said.
Awards previously have ranged from $200 to over $1,000, she said.
“We are most interested in projects that will utilize Easthampton spaces and resources,” she said. “We’re looking at big projects, but we’re also happy to fund small things like field trips.”
Recipients this year included Flywheel Arts Collective for its Pioneer Valley Zine Fest, Hilltown Families for its Saturday Morning Music Party and ECA+ itself for the construction of a parklet for Cultural Chaos.
Those planning projects or programs in the interpretive sciences also may apply. Those are things that offer discussions of science and how it affects people’s lives.
The Emily Williston Memorial Library was awarded such a grant several years ago to bring a giant inflatable whale mobile to the library, Crutchfield said.
Applications will be accepted online at www.easthamptoncityarts.com/grants.
Those interested in applying are invited to a grant-writing workshop from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 14 at old Town Hall.
The workshop will cover guidelines for the Easthampton grants and the general guidelines set by the state Cultural Council that apply to grants awarded by other communities, review budget planning and offer a question-and-answer period, according to Crutchfield.
“If folks are not applying for something in Easthampton, they can still take away what’s going to apply to all the local cultural councils,” she said.
Chris Lindahl can be reached at clindahl@gazettenet.com