Last week, the Mass Cultural Council announced that 51 nonprofit and municipal performing arts centers across the Commonwealth, including Franklin Performing Arts Company, will receive a total of $3,568,500 through the Fiscal Year 2026 Gaming Mitigation Fund grant program. Franklin Performing Arts Company receives $6,000.
Established by the Legislature through the Massachusetts Expanded Gaming Act, the somewhath quirky Gaming Mitigation Fund provides critical support to Massachusetts performing arts centers to offset competitive pressures created by resort-style casinos, such as Encore in Everett. Grant funds are used to secure touring shows and help cover touring artist fees, helping local venues compete for nationally and internationally recognized acts. So, through the program, centuries-old classical music organizations such as the Handel & Hayden Society, presumably devastated by high-rolling gamblers, will get a hefty cash payment…
“Mass Cultural Council is proud to support our performing arts centers and the communities they serve,” said David T. Slatery, Acting Executive Director, Mass Cultural Council. “These organizations are vibrant cultural anchors and powerful economic drivers. This funding ensures they can continue to attract exceptional touring performances, expand access to high-quality arts experiences, and strengthen local economies across Massachusetts.”
As the Commonwealth’s independent state arts agency, Mass Cultural Council is charged with bolstering the cultural sector, thereby advancing economic vitality, supporting transformational change, and celebrating, preserving, and inspiring creativity across all Massachusetts communities.
Now in the second year of a two-year grant cycle, all FY26 recipients previously applied for and received funding through the program in FY25. Individual grant awards this year range from $6,000 to $200,000.
As directed by statute, Mass Cultural Council receives 2% of state casino tax revenues to administer the program. The Gaming Mitigation Fund is specifically designed to mitigate the direct competitive impact of casinos, which often operate with larger entertainment budgets and expanded amenities, and preserve the sustainability of nonprofit and municipal performing arts venues throughout the Commonwealth.
Since its launch six years ago, the Gaming Mitigation Fund has invested more than $20 million in over 90 organizations statewide, strengthening the cultural infrastructure that makes Massachusetts communities vibrant places to live, work, and visit.
Gaming Mitigation Awards
Organization City/town Grant
ArtsEmerson
Boston
$97,800
Ashmont Hill Chamber Music
Boston
$6,000
Barrington Stage Company
Pittsfield
$8,800
Boch Center
Boston
$200,000
Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity
Northampton
$19,200
Boston Early Music Festival
Cambridge
$70,500
Boston Jazz Foundation
Boston
$8,400
Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston
$200,000
Cabot Performing Arts Center
Beverly
$200,000
Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival
Eastham
$33,500
Cary Memorial Hall
Lexington
$56,400
Center for Arts in Natick
Natick
$74,000
Cotuit Center for the Arts
Barnstable
$6,400
Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts
Watertown
$11,300
Franklin Performing Arts Company
Franklin
$6,000
Freshgrass Public Foundation
Williamstown
$71,000
Global Arts Live
Cambridge
$197,400
Grass Roots Cultural and Performing Arts Center
Blackstone
$14,900
Groton Hill Music
Groton
$108,900
Guthrie Center
Great Barrington
$6,000
Handel and Haydn Society
Boston
$80,000
Hanover Theatre
Worcester
$200,000
Imagine Studios
Amesbury
$6,000
Inspire Arts and Music
Boston
$20,100
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
Becket
$105,000
Lowell Festival Foundation
Lowell
$79,000
Lowell Memorial Auditorium
Lowell
$121,000
Lynn Auditorium
Lynn
$200,000
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center
Great Barrington
$56,500
Majestic Theater
West Springfield
$11,900
Marilyn Rodman Performing Arts Center
Foxborough
$6,700
Mass Arts Center
Mansfield
$6,000
Music Worcester
Worcester
$91,000
Narrows Center for the Arts
Fall River
$81,500
New England Festivals
Falmouth
$6,000
Oversoul Theatre Collective
Wareham
$9,800
Passim
Cambridge
$53,500
Payomet Performing Arts Center
Truro
$79,500
Rockport Music
Rockport
$170,400
Shea Theater Arts Center
Montague
$13,900
South Shore Music Circus
Cohasset
$200,000
Spire Center for Performing Arts
Plymouth
$66,700
The Jar
Boston
$6,000
The Parlor Room
Northampton
$103,500
The Yard
Chilmark
$28,000
UMASS Amherst Fine Arts Center
Amherst
$53,800
Unbroken Wings
Westfield
$6,000
Vivo Performing Arts
Boston
$200,000
Williamstown Theatre Festival
Williamstown
$14,200
Winchendon Music Festival
Newton
$6,000
Zeiterion Theatre
New Bedford
$90,000