Haverhill’s Riverfront Cultural District was among those awarded a $15,000 state investment grant last Friday.
The Riverfront Cultural District covers Washington and Wingate Streets in downtown Haverhill, and is administered by Creative Haverhill. Besides Haverhill, other area communities, including Newburyport and Lowell, also received 2023 Cultural District Investment Grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, an independent state agency charged with supporting a vibrant cultural sector across the Commonwealth, at the Danforth Art Museum at Framingham State University.
“A decade ago, our partners in the legislature asked Mass. Cultural Council to develop and administer this initiative to spur cultural and economic activities in cities and towns of all sizes and in all regions of the Commonwealth,” said Executive Director Michael J. Bobbitt. We are immensely proud of this powerful network that works every day to uplift the diversity of creativity and culture living and working in Massachusetts, and the exciting programming the districts provide their host communities.”
In total, the Council awarded $750,000 to 50 state-designated cultural districts located in communities in every region of Massachusetts. Each district received $15,000 to support activities and goals that encourage its development and success, such as marketing and promotion, capacity building, artist or vendor fees, the development or implementation of creative community placemaking, placekeeping or public art, collaborative cultural policy or strategic planning processes or community-engaged and informed data collection and/or reporting.
The $15,000 grant awards made today are double the $7,500 awards approved a year ago.