Framingham, MA – The START Framingham Partnership will release the results of their Economic Impact Study, prepared by Carlisle & Company, on Sunday, January 31, 2010, at an event to be held at the Danforth Museum of Art from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Press and public are invited to discover why the creative industries are economic engines, having a profound economic impact on their communities. (more…)
Tag: START
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2006 Spring Into Arts Calendar Now Available
FRAMINGHAM, MA – START Framingham Partnership’s Spring into Arts Calendar covering local events from April 17th through May 21st is now available both online on framingham.com as well as in booklet form.
Thanks to Bose Corporation, who donated the printing, you can pick up a booklet at the Framingham Libraries, as well as the many museums, art studios, cultural organizations, and businesses around Framingham.
Copies will also be available at events, including the kick-off event, the Framingham Rotary Club’s Annual Multicultural Fair at the Town Hall and Civic League. The Fair is Marathon Monday, April 17th, from 1 to 4 p.m. Admission is free.
The mission of the START Framingham Partnership is to strengthen community life in Framingham and to contribute to the cultural broadening, deepening and diversifying participation in the arts and cultural activities.
framingham.com will publish any changes and updates to the calendar.
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Amorello to Present Tourism Grant to Framingham Community Groups
FRAMINGHAM, MA – Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Chairman Matthew Amorello will come to Framingham next week to present to the START Framingham Partnership and Friends of Saxonville a $16,000 award intended to bring more visitors to Framingham.
The two organizations collaborated on a proposal to the MTA’s Tourism Office with the overall purpose of building Framingham as a cultural destination. The money will allow them to produce coordinated promotional materials that will make the traveling public more aware of the many artistic and cultural opportunities in town, including those originating in the downtown area, in Saxonville, on the Centre Common, in artists’ studios and in the many venues where art is being produced and experienced.
One of the first tasks of the START Partnership will be to convert its Cultural Audit, which formed the basis for the online Framingham Cultural Directory (framinghamma.gov/cultural) into marketing tools for these cultural events.
Friends of Saxonville intends to undertake a marketing campaign to promote its four current initiatives: Historic Athenaeum Hall, the Carol J. Getchell Nature Trail, the recently restored Danforth Bridge and Saxonville’s Historic Walk.
“This tourism promotion grant is a great beginning for this year’s “Spring into Arts” events all over Framingham”, State Representative Debby Blumer stated. “I’m particularly pleased that the START Partnership and Friends of Saxonville are being recognized for their contributions to our active, vibrant community.”
Mr. Amorello will be at the Ablondi Room in the Memorial Building at 3pm on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 to officially present this award to START and Friends of Saxonville. A reception will follow the presentation.
The Mission of the START Framingham Partnership is to strengthen community life in Framingham and contribute to the cultural and economic vitality of the town by broadening, deepening and diversifying participation in the arts and cultural activities. START is supported by grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the CARLISLE Foundation of Framingham, MA as well as the Town of Framingham, Framingham-based businesses and many dedicated volunteers.
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EGUIE CASTRILLO AND TOM RUSH PERFORMING
FRAMINGHAM, MA – The first annual Spring Into Arts! festival wraps up this week with performances by folk legend Tom Rush and Latin sensation Eguie Castrillo. Tickets to both performances may be purchased at the door or by calling Amazing Things Arts Center at (508) 405-2787.
Spring Into Arts! is a project of the START Framingham Partnership, a consortium of 60 individuals and organizations working in partnership with the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) to support Framingham’s diverse and vibrant arts and cultural community. Over 20 arts and cultural organizations partnered to offer nearly 50 events during the festival’s five-week run. Audiences of all ages were treated to a kaleidoscope of events—from art exhibits and musical performances to family fun days and ethnic festivals.
“The Spring Into Arts festival has succeeded in raising the visibility of the number and variety of quality arts and cultural offerings in Framingham today,” says H. Mark Smith, MCC’s START Project Director. “MCC is proud to support the START Framingham Partnership as it continues to increase awareness of the central role that arts play in the life of this community.”
Tom Rush fans can see the folk singer/songwriter at the Framingham Civic League at 8 p.m. on Friday, May 20. Credited with shaping folk revival in the 1960s, and its renaissance of the 1980s and 1990s, Rush’s style blends both traditional and modern folk influences. Rush began his musical career in the early 1960s playing in Boston-area clubs while a student at Harvard, and released two albums by the time he graduated. In 1982, after a brief respite from touring and recording sessions, Rush returned to the music scene to introduce the musical forum—the Club 47 series—that would allow established musicians and newcomers to share the same stage. The show continues to fill music halls around the country today.
On Saturday, May 21, Grammy award winner Eguie Castrillo will lead his orchestra in a special tribute to the Mambo Kings at Nevins Hall, Memorial Building in Framingham beginning at 8 p.m. This high-energy performance promises to take the audience back to a time when the Mambo and cha-cha-cha were all the rage, and the orchestras of Puente, Machito and Rodriguez were the top three big bands in New York City. Considered one of the most important percussionists in the world, Castrillo has performed with such artists as Tito Puente, Jennifer Lopez, Steve Winwood, Arturao Sandoval and The Boston Pops. For a full listing of Spring Into Arts! events through Sunday, May 22, visit www.framingham.com for details.
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Framingham Launches Spring Into Arts
Month Long Festival Links Artists and Community
FRAMINGHAM, MA – The first annual Spring Into Arts festival begins next week in Framingham. This month-long festival will feature 50 arts and cultural events at scheduled locations in Framingham from April 18 through May 22. Spring Into Arts is a project of the START Framingham Partnership, a consortium of 60 individuals and organizations, appointed by town Selectmen, working together to support Framingham’s artists and cultural organizations.
START Framingham is supported in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC) which chose Framingham as one of three Massachusetts towns to receive a three-year grant from the Wallace Foundation to support and to promote community participation in the arts. MCC’s decision to choose Framingham was influenced by the town’s ethnic diversity and hundreds of professional artists and cultural organizations actively working in various fields in the arts.
“In selecting the three communities to join us as partners, we wanted to support and encourage local leadership. It was clear that strong local leadership was well established in the Framingham Office of Economic Development and Planning and in the Framingham Cultural Council. Our job was to catch up on their vision.” says MCC’s START project director H. Mark Smith.
START’s mission is to raise awareness of the arts and to increase participation in arts-related activities among all segments of the population through innovative and creative methods. “We are honored that Framingham was recognized as having a dynamic arts and cultural community. It offers many opportunities for people of all ages to not only celebrate the arts, but also to participate in their community through the arts. The Spring Into Arts festival will introduce the wider public to Framingham’s vibrant and ethnically diverse arts community,” explains Carla Fink, director of START Framingham Partnership.
The festival kicks off with a Multicultural Fair on April 18 from 1-4 p.m. in Nevins Hall of the Memorial Building Town Hall, and the Family Drop Into Art program at the Danforth Museum of Art between 1-3 p.m. Families will find a number of events geared toward children of all ages, as well as several events presented by Framingham students.
“Spring Into Arts provides an opportunity to showcase our students’ talents in the visual and performing arts,” notes George Perrone, department head of fine arts at Framingham High School. “The arts are alive and well in Framingham at all levels. I hope the festival and various student-performed events encourage increased public participation and support for the arts in our schools and community.”
Families, art enthusiasts and those looking to participate in the arts for the first time will have the opportunity to chat with artists in their studios, participate in hands-on art projects at the Danforth Museum of Art, discover a variety of musical styles, explore Brazilian music, art and literature at the Brazilian American Association’s day long festival, experience the visual and performing arts featuring Framingham students, walk through 45 acres of wildflowers, or be entertained by storytellers and a nature illustrator.
“Arts and culture build strong, vibrant, sustainable communities,” says MCC Executive Director Mary Kelley. “Framingham residents are fortunate to have municipal and cultural leaders who want to broaden participation in the wide range of cultural opportunities that exist in their city.”
Full listing of events are available online at framingham.com.
START Framingham Partnership (START) is a project of the Massachusetts Cultural Council made possible through a grant from the Wallace Foundation. START enjoys support from the Town of Framingham Office of Planning and Economic Development, the Framingham Cultural Council, Banknorth, BOSE Corporation, the Carlisle Foundation, MassBay Community College and Office Depot.
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START Partnership Appoints 1st Director
FRAMINGHAM, MA – The executive committee of the START Framingham Partnership is pleased to announce the appointment of START’s first director, Alla Abramovich. She will officially be on board October 18th.
With doctorates in ethnomusicology from Leningrad State University in the USSR as well as from the University of Illinois School of Music, Alla has a background in teaching at the university level and has done special projects for UNESCO – her most recent in Estonia where she studied music and culture of the people there. She has written a number of books and papers over the years.
Until she moved to Framingham, Alla was the founder and CEO of the Earth Music Center in Indianapolis, Indiana – an initiative started after she noticed an empty building on park land. Seven years later, the center in Eagle Creek Park is a consortium of four non-profit groups dedicated to the environment, music, and the arts. She recruited a board of directors, nurtured partnerships, started a non-profit, and incorporated the effort.
At this time, Alla is fairly new to Framingham and looks forward to both understanding and learning about our community while advancing the mission and vision of the START Framingham Partnership.
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