Last week Mayor Martin Walsh and the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture in collaboration with the Boston Cultural Council (BCC) and the Mass Cultural Council announced Zumix will be one of 181 Boston arts organizations that will share $472,955 in 2018 Boston Cultural Council organizational grants.
The City of Boston contributed $300,000 in funding and Mass Cultural Council contributed over $170,000 to the Boston Cultural Council.
Zumix’s Director of Advancement Kim Dawson said the money will go to help support the neighborhood’s premier music and arts nonprofit’s community events such as the Zumix Summer Concert Series in Piers Park and its open events at the Zumix Firehouse.
“We’re thrilled that the Boston Cultural Council continues to champion arts organizations because this type of work allows us to bring our neighborhood together in joyful artistic experiences,” said Dawson. “It is truly an honor to do this work and to be recognized by the Boston Cultural Council for it.”
Each summer Zumix hosts free concerts at Piers Park as well as a wide array of free and fundraising events at the Zumix Firehouse.
“This is an exciting time for the City of Boston because we are investing in organizations and projects that have the potential to enhance Boston’s arts and culture community,” said Mayor Walsh. “I’m looking forward to seeing how these organizations use art to unite, lift up and inspire Boston’s communities.”
Zumix applied for funding through a competitive process and was selected based on their potential to enhance the quality of life, the economy and the design of Eastie, as well as advancing the goals of the BCC Cultural Plan.
Zumix and other applicants were required to show how they plan to help grow access to the arts in areas not already well served by cultural opportunities, foster access to the arts for populations who don’t typically have access to the arts, elevate the work of Boston’s creatives, inspire the creation of new works, and support the achievement and provision of excellent, high quality arts and culture in the City of Boston.
Zumix has been the beneficiary of the grant money in the past and has enabled the program to engage the community through free events, music shows and other endeavors to celebrate the culture and diversity of the neighborhood.
The BCC received 208 applications for this year’s grant program.
“The Boston Creates planning process led us to realize the disparity of arts opportunities across the various neighborhoods of Boston,” said the city’s Chief of Arts and Culture Julie Burros. “By investing in arts organizations across the City, we’re a partner in their success and we’re helping to expand access to arts opportunities in every community.”