Fostering the Arts in Franklin County

This is an exciting organization of partners working to 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 Arts & Partnership 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 Arts & Culture Partnership invites every artist or creative person in the region to:

• Join the database and be counted
• Sign up for email alerts, information on exhibition opportunities, and general news
• Create your artist profile for our webpage &/or
• Link your existing website to by visiting the Join page here
• Attend an Upcoming Event
• Check our site often for new features, calendar of events, and new classes and workshops.

Building the database is critical in stressing to potential funders, tourism organizations, and others just how large the region's creative sector really is, and why dollars invested in building the arts and the arts infrastructure can make a significant difference not only to artists, but to the larger region.

The Fostering the Arts and Culture Partnership is a project of the Franklin County Community Development Corporation (FCCDC), Franklin County Chamber of Commerce and Greenfield Business Association (FCCC), Greenfield Community College (GCC), Turners Falls RiverCulture, and the Shelburne Falls Area Business Association (SFABA).