Franklin School for the Performing Arts Among Beneficiaries of Gaming Mitigation

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