Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities

The Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities (1966) and the Massachusetts Arts Lottery Council (1980) were abolished and succeeded in their functions by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, effective 1990.

Resolves 1964, c 93 authorized the governor to appoint a fifteen-member special commission to study the cultural needs and resources of the Commonwealth. The commission recommended the formation of a council to maintain a continuing study of public awareness of the arts and humanities and available resources in these areas. Consequently a Council on the Arts and Humanities was established by St 1966, c 589 and placed within the Dept. of Education. It was transferred to the Executive Office for Administration and Finance by St 1980, c 329, s 108. From 1984 it was more commonly known by the longer name, Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities.

The council consisted of fifteen gubernatorial appointees serving staggared three-year terms, to be private citizens who "demonstrated scholarship or creativity in or distinguished service to the arts and humanities." They were mandated to search out existing arts programs and to publicize their existence more fully to benefit the general public; to initiate programs encouraging young artists by building receptive audiences for various art forms; and to create in the Commonwealth a supportive environment for contemporary art.

The council used monies from the National Endowment for the Arts and state appropriations to create programs that distributed funds to artists and arts organizations, including: Merit Aid, New Works, Financial Assistance, Historic Conservation, Artists Fellowship, and Artists-in-Residence. During 1987 the council, in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution's Office of Folklife Programs, conducted fieldwork to identify and locate traditional folk artists from Massachusetts to participate in the 22nd annual Festival of American Folklife, held on the grounds of the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., July 1988.

Council executive directors were Louise Tate, 1966-1977, and Anne Hawley, 1977-1989.

St 1989, c 653, ss 14-16 abolished the council and the Massachusetts Arts Lottery Council, combining their functions in the Massachusetts Cultural Council, effective 1990.

NAME AUTHORITY NOTE. Series relating to the agency described above can be found by searching the following access point for the time period stated: 1966-1989--Massachusetts Council on the Arts and Humanities.