The Northampton Arts Council works to support and nurture the arts in the city of Northampton. The Council awards grants twice each year to artists and arts groups from both state and locally-raised funds, and seeks to improve public awareness of the arts. Its' goals include maintaining and preserving the rich and diverse cultural heritage of Northampton, programming such annual events of interest to the community as First Night Northampton, Northampton Summer Concert Series, Performance and Silver Chord Bowl, and advocating on behalf of the arts community.
The Northampton Arts Council believes that art is for everyone. We strive to produce, support, and sustain arts and cultural initiatives that uphold all people—including but not limited to those who have been historically marginalized based on race/ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, neurodiversity, socioeconomic status, geography, citizenship status, or religion. We affirm the need to redress historical inequities in the arts and cultural sector and commit to supporting equitable and inclusive practices through all aspects of our work.
Founded in 1980, the Northampton Arts Council has an all-volunteer board, and staff, consisting of a full-time executive director, a full-time arts events producer, and one half-time production assistant.
In addition to administering the LCC program, The Northampton Arts Council was the first cultural council in the Commonwealth to raise money for a second round of funding every spring, with only a few other LCC's following our lead. The ArtsEZ Grant round is made possible by three major fundraising events produced by the Northampton Arts Council; first, Transperformance, an end-of-summer music festival at Look Park held every August, First Night Northampton, Northampton's New Year's Eve festival of the performing arts, and the Silver Chord Bowl, the legendary collegiate acapella invitational that takes place on the first Sunday in February.
