As the world continues to change around us, we depend on arts and creativity to foster greater community cohesion, helping to bridge divides, aid in healing and recovery, and enable all to find their voice and place in our communities.

Greater Worcester Community Foundation is proud to be the biggest non-capital arts funder based in the region. Through Creative Worcester County, we aim to foster a region where artists and creative entrepreneurs are welcomed and supported, quality projects are replicated or taken to scale, the contributions of our diverse populations are celebrated, and the sector is supported as a key driver of vitality and well-being.

We are proud to be part of the Creative Commonwealth Initiative, a ten-year partnership between the Barr Foundation and community foundations to elevate arts and cultural expression across Massachusetts.

Creative Worcester County

Creative Worcester County seeks to center arts and culture in our community, fully recognizing the creative sector as a key component in the ability of individuals and families to lead healthy, thriving lives. It aims to nurture a region where all residents share a sense of ownership and belonging in all creative spaces.

Since 2018, Creative Worcester County has:

Give to Creative Worcester County

Greater Worcester Community Foundation is proud to invest in the arts, with additional support from the Barr Foundation through its Creative Commonwealth Initiative.

Help us accelerate this funding even further by making a single or multi-year commitment of any amount to Creative Worcester County.

Your support will help expand our grant pool for creative projects and foster long-term investment in the arts.

Give Now

2024 Goals

In 2024, we will continue to invest in arts & culture throughout Worcester County by advancing the following goals.

EXPANDING OUR REACH

GOAL: Apply what we’ve learned through five years of Creative Worcester to the entire county

In 2024, we will be intentional about expanding our special projects under this initiative, which have historically been focused in Worcester, to reach our entire catchment area.

CREATIVE INTERSECTIONS

GOAL: Increase grants to spark collaboration and promote cross-sector programming

We will continue to offer our Creative Intersections grant program in 2024, which helps connect non-arts organizations (e.g. schools, hospitals, senior centers) with arts organizations to promote arts, culture and creativity as key components in assisting individuals, families and communities to live healthy and thriving lives.

Stay tuned for more details!

BUSINESS OF ART

GOAL: Respond to the needs of the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) community

We expect to continue collaborating with MASS MoCA’s Assets for Artists department to support artists of color across Worcester County to strengthen their creative practice and build mutually supportive networks through workshops, coaching and community-building.

The next Business of Art Cohort will be accepting applications in Fall 2024.

CULTURAL PLAN

GOAL: Advance the City of Worcester’s cultural plan

From the start of this Initiative, we've sought to help propel Worcester's "cultural renaissance" by energizing dynamic cultural institutions, empowering innovative creatives, and engaging with civic leaders. Beginning with community conversations in 2018, the Foundation led the way in the development of Worcester's first-ever Cultural Plan. The Plan, which was made available to the public on May 29, 2019, was created in partnership with the City and the Worcester Cultural Coalition. It promotes a shared vision that recognizes the power of culture to make our City a better place for people to live, work and thrive.

In 2024, we will work with these partners to conduct a refresh of the cultural plan, giving consideration to the significant ways our community has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the Plan