Sweet Beginnings Festival workshop participants at the National Yiddish Book Center

The Foundation believes arts & culture experiences can be powerful vehicles to explore, educate, and celebrate our heritage and the joys of being Jewish. Further, innovative cultural programs can support the goals of outreach and inclusion as well as cultural awareness and understanding among Jews and the general community.

Andrei Malaev-Babel performs "Babel: How It Was Done in Odessa"

The Foundation is committed to a vision of a dynamic, thriving Jewish community in which a diversity of people can live together, help each other, and work toward a shared future. This is a vision in which arts & culture play an essential role.



With this in mind, the Foundation is offering its Jewish Arts & Culture Initiative (JA&CI) to support creative community-based programs serving Western Massachusetts* that

Valley Klezmer Orchestra members rehearse

  address one or more of the following goals:

• Illuminate Jewish history and values
  
• Investigate contemporary issues
  
• Support social activism (tikkun olam)
  
• Celebrate and renew traditions
  
• Provide arts education opportunities
  
• Facilitate community building
  
• Foster cross-cultural and/or interfaith understanding
  
• Explore Jewish spirituality
  
• Provide for individual and community expression

• Funding through Creative Community Grants (by application for requests up to $3000)
  
• Funding for Special Program Initiatives (by invitation for requests over $3,000)
  
• Culture Connect monthly e-nnouncements of upcoming programs, classes, and special events
  
• Links to other Cultural Resources
  
• Virtual Marketing Assistance Center
  
• Periodic regional networking sessions among organizations, artists, and others interested in creating cultural programs and initiatives