This year, the Methuen Cultural Council awarded 26 grant recipients a total of almost $39,000 which allows for programming to benefit kids, seniors and the community at large!

During an event last month at Methuen Memorial Music Hall, grantees were invited to connect with fellow recipients and talk about their diverse projects.

“The mission of the Methuen Cultural Council is to support public arts projects through the re-granting of the annual allocation of funds from the Massachusetts Cultural Council,” noted Methuen Cultural Council Chair Ellen Baronowski. “These projects promote access, education, diversity and excellence in the arts, humanities and interpretive sciences through exhibition or performance. All of our decisions are local and are made in with the best interest of Methuen citizens in mind.”

Here’s a sampling.
*Dan Gagnon of the Methuen Historical Society accepted a grant to cover the cost of a military encampment that will be part of Methuen’s tricentennial celebration. “A Day of History – Celebrating 300” is set for May 30, behind the Tenney Gatehouse. All ages are welcome to learn about the 6th Massachusetts Militia of the Civil War, which included Methuen residents, watch a World War II re-enactment group, take pictures at the “machine-gun nest” and more.

*Methuen Memorial Music Hall received two-prong grant funding. Not only will fourth-graders get bused to the gorgeous historic hall to learn about the Great Organ and Edward F. Searles, but there will be an adult version of this informative program, called Sights and Sounds of the Music Hall, this summer.

*Methuen High School’s Multicultural Club received a grant for its Multicultural Fair. A bright idea intrigued about 60 teens to share their personal culture with fellow students and staff.

*Let’s hear it for artists! Jen Loiselle is bringing an arts and crafts workshop to seniors and the disabled who reside at Methuen Housing Authority sites. Bruce Ma is repurposing fallen branches to create “log cabins” that will get a second life along the Methuen Rail Trail.

*Nevins Memorial Library received grants in support of a trio of storytelling programs: one guides teens as they write their own story, one combines a sportswriter’s day job with baseball music and trivia, and a third engages kids with dinosaur tales. (Details on the first two are in this month’s Check It Out column.)

*Programs for seniors include The Jazz Committee, a trio that loves sharing the Great American Songbook, performing at the Methuen Senior Center on April 15 at 1pm as well as hip-hop chair dancing with Dr. Rhonda Drafts. Gigi and the Gravity Men will bring the tunes, while guests do the dancin’, at the Senior Center this summer.

*Methuen Arlington Neighborhood kids will take a field trip to the New England Aquarium, followed by a Duck Boat Tour. MAN Inc., founder Linda Soucy noted that without grant money, many families can’t afford these activities. “The cost has gone up 600 percent since we last went in 2022,” she said, noting how grateful she is to the Methuen Cultural Council.

*CGS and the Marsh School programs include science and visual arts programs, as well as an anti-bullying program and an author visit featuring a graphic novel workshop.

“We really appreciate the work you do in Methuen to bring culture to our community,” Baranowski told the grantees. “Just listening to these stories today, you can see that our grants are able to touch a lot of different clienteles here in Methuen. And we’re very happy to do it.”

In addition to Baranowski, Methuen Cultural Council members are Olivia Chung, Taana Latu, Carey Smith and Catherine Zembruski. For more info on grants, e-mail methuenculturalcouncil@gmail.com.

Al Gagnon, who performs with Gigi & the Gravity Men, thanks Methuen Cultural Council Chair Ellen Baranowski for their grant, which will go toward a summer show at the Methuen Senior Center.

Grantees were presented statuettes, recognizing their grant win.