Seven Berkshire cultural organizations are among 11 entities from Western Massachusetts that have received capital grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund, which supports capital projects for nonprofit arts and cultural firms.
The Berkshire organizations include the Berkshire Carousel in Lanesborough, the Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Becket, Tanglewood and Edith Wharton Restoration Inc. of Lenox, and the Norman Rockwell Museum and The Trustees of Reservations in Stockbridge.
The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams, Saint James Place in Great Barrington, and the Topia Arts Center in Adams received feasibility and technical assistance grants from the same program.
Statewide, nearly $5.2 million was awarded to arts and cultural organizations through the grant program. The organizations who receive grants in this round of funding plan to invest $87 million in their projects.
In the Berkshires, $1.2 million in capital grants was awarded to the seven recipients. The Berkshire Carousel and the Clark Art Institute each received $250,000, the highest total among those nonprofit entities.
The Clark's funding will go toward a complete renovation of the institute's museum building, including additional galleries, upgraded life safety and HVAC systems, and new collections and facilities storage. First floor renovations will add 2,300 square feet of gallery space to the existing space.
"The major change will be the reorientation of the museum building to its original east-west axis, re-establishing the integrity of the original design and improving circulation," stated Sally Morse Majewski, the Clark's manager of marketing and public relations in an email.
The Carousel plans to use the funding to construct a building in Lanesborough to house its wooden carousel.
At Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony Orchestra plans to use $141,868 in grant funding to build a 380-seat permanent pavilion at the Tent Club location between the Shed and Ozawa Hall where a large white tent currently sits.
The pavilion is part of the BSO's overall plan for improvements to the building and grounds at Tanglewood, BSO spokeswoman Bernadette Horgan said via email. The grant will help support those plans, but the BSO will also need to raise additional funds to cover the project's total costs.
According to Horgan, the new pavilion is intended to improve the Tanglewood experience for patrons who attend pre- and post-concert events, educational programs, receptions, lectures, dinners, lunches and other events that are held annually in the Tent Club, and will be available for use by Tanglewood's partners in the Berkshire community during the spring and fall.