The Wellesley Cultural Council (WCC) has announced the grant recipients who will help bring arts and cultural programs to Wellesley residents in 2025. The WCC was allocated over $10K from the Massachusetts Cultural Council to dole out to applicants to seeking to enrich the artistic and cultural life of the community.
From large grants…
Catherine Bueker, a sociology professor at Emmanuel College, scored the largest grant of $2,860 for her “We Are Wellesley” proposal. Scheduled for May 2025 at Wellesley Free Library, the Wellesley Housing Authority Community Center at Barton Road, and Tolles-Parsons Center, this project will highlight Wellesley’s evolving community identity. Through oral histories, photography, and public art installations, the initiative will document the town’s increasing diversity. The project seeks to foster dialogue, cultural awareness, and a deeper sense of belonging among residents.
Bueker has been studying the town since at least 2023, when she received a $70k grant from the Russel Sage Foundation to support her Wellesley-focused study, “Beyond White Picket Fences: How Established Residents Experience Increasing Diversity.”
…to small grants
Howard Newman received $400 to bring his Musical Baseball Show, a unique blend of music and baseball history, to the Wellesley Free Library in spring/summer 2025. Newman uses songs and storytelling to bring baseball’s history to life, making the event both educational and entertaining for audiences of all ages. This interactive show celebrates the cultural significance of America’s pastime through music.
And everything in between
- Combating Hate & Prejudice (Janet Applefield), $450
- 57th Veterans Parade & Wellesley’s Wonderful Weekend (Wellesley Celebrations Committee), $1,400
- A Song & Story Summer Reading Celebration (Davis R. Bates III), $550
- Masters of the 18th & 19th c. Sacred Music (Wellesley Choral Society), $1,000
- Yarning Around the Commonwealth (Roseann Fleischauer), $1,000
- How Creative Expression Can Benefit Older Adults (Wellesley Society of Artists), $310
- Wellesley Symphony Orchestra 2024-2025 Season (Wellesley Symphony Orchestra, Inc.), $1,000
- Exploring New Directions (Wellesley Town Band), $1,200
About the Wellesley Cultural Council
The Wellesley Cultural Council (WCC) is part of a network of 329 local cultural councils which provide cultural programming to all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Funding for these local cultural councils comes from an annual appropriation from the state legislature to the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which then distributes those funds to its local cultural councils.
The WCC is made up of 9 members, each of whom serves a renewable 3-year term. Their primary duty is to read and assess grant applications submitted by artists and educators for events or programs to benefit Wellesley residents. Typically, grant applications are received by mid-October, a meeting to assess them occurs in November, and most duties of Council members are complete by December.
The Wellesley Cultural Council members are appointed by the Select Board.
The Wellesley Cultural Council accepts applications annually from artists, educators, performers and organizations for community-oriented programs that will enrich the cultural life of the residents of Wellesley. Applicants may request funding for programs in the arts, humanities, and sciences, including (but not limited to) performances, lectures, workshops, exhibits, and festivals.
