When individual artists approach Mass Cultural Council looking for support and opportunities, we point them toward our Artist Fellowships (unrestricted monetary awards in recognition of artistic excellence) and ArtSake (our online resource for artists, which you already know about, since... here you are). But there are other opportunities closer to home. Artists can richly … [Read more...]
From the Archives
Sean Padraic McCarthy: In the Midst of the Sea
In 2016, Sean Padraic McCarthy won a Mass Cultural Council Artist Fellowship in Fiction/Creative Nonfiction. As he gets ready to publish his debut novel, In the Midst of the Sea on May 1, 2019, we asked him about his new book, the difficult balance of work+life+art, and what's next in his intriguing trajectory as a literary artist. What came first for In the Midst of the … [Read more...]
Studio Views: Brece Honeycutt
We learned that Brece Honeycutt (Drawing & Printmaking Finalist '18) had been selected for two different artist residencies this summer. Here, she shares images and observations about the three studios in which she worked these last few months: her own in Sheffield, her residency at Norte Maar in Jay, NY, and her residency at Naumkeag in Stockbridge, MA. Outside/Inside: … [Read more...]
Why Fund Artists?
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has been supporting artists for over 40 years through the Artist Fellowships Program. To help illuminate why, Mass Cultural Council has asked past awardees going all the way back to 1975 to share their personal stories of receiving the state award for artistic excellence. The following gallery compiles of some of those stories, which tell of … [Read more...]
How Does Place Impact Your Art?
Place is a key element of any work of art, but how it shapes, transforms, or (as the case may be) becomes the work depends on the intentions and explorations of the artist. For instance, in Elizabeth Graver's new novel The End of the Point, place "is a kind of central character - the rocks, the paths, the land in nature and outside of it. People... beg, borrow, steal, gift, … [Read more...]