Fostering Art & Culture Project

Welcome to the Fostering Art and Culture Project!

Mission Statement

Fostering Art and Culture Project (FACP) is a partnership of artistic, business, and civic stakeholders committed to growing the creative economy in Franklin County, MA.   Believing that artists and arts-related businesses are this county’s greatest cultural resources, FACP aims to increase artists’ capacity, promote cultural tourism to our area, and hold up the centrality of the arts in public life.

Franklin County Manifesto

This is an exciting organization of unique partners working to grow the creative economy in Franklin County, MA. The arts are a powerful industry in New England. We influence spending, have employment power, create a regional identity, and generate interest and excitement. Our creative efforts help make "home" more vibrant and interesting, and bring cultural dollars to our towns that support local restaurants, hotels and b&bs, gas stations, and stores, as well as our own creative work.

According to a study by The New England Council: The Creative Economy, both nonprofit arts organizations and commercial organizations and individual artists "supports almost 245,000 jobs in New England, an amount that nearly equals the computer equipment cluster and more than the software and healthcare technology clusters combined." As a collective, we have great power, but as individuals, there remain significant needs, the most important of which is to make a living from one's work. The goals of the Fostering Art and Culture Project are to:

• Increase artists' capacity to engage in commerce, and thereby foster and grow the creative economy
• Increase cultural tourism to the region
• Promote in the wider community the centrality of art and expression in our lives.

To boost some of this potential, the Fostering Art and Culture Project invites every artist or creative person in the region to:

• Sign up on Creative Ground database and be counted
• Sign up for email alerts, information on exhibition opportunities, and general news
• Attend an Upcoming Event
• Check our site often for new features, events, and new classes and workshops.