Needham Council for Arts & Culture

Joni Schockett, Co-Chair 
Heather Simmons, Co-Chair
Corinne Rhode, Treasurer
Kavita Deodhar, Secretary
Abby Bernstein
Elizabeth Cook 
Topher Cox
Stephen Dornbusch
Manya Hughes
Amy Lam 
Michael Niden
Christine Mawhinney
Wendy Segal 
Dennis Zhang

Purpose

The Needham Council for Arts & Culture is a group of Needham residents whose purpose is to support community-based projects and activities in the performing and visual arts, humanities and interpretive sciences to benefit the residents of Needham. We are appointed by the Select Board to dispense public funding allocated by the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC), a state agency, and are responsible for informing the public about the availability of public funding (grants) for cultural projects and for reviewing and approving applications. The budget of the MCC is determined annually by the state legislature.

We also facilitate communication among the many cultural organizations in the Needham community and support their collaboration through NeedArts, an arts network created by the Needham Council for Arts & Culture. The Council initiated the New Year’s Needham event as well as the Spring Arts Festival and seeks to bring new and meaningful performing and visual arts events to the Needham community.

Get Involved

Residents who would like to get involved in the community by supporting the visual and performing arts and would like to work with others to bring such cultural events to the town of Needham are encouraged to apply for membership. Event planning and fund raising experience is helpful but not required. Meetings are generally held once a month in the evening. Members are appointed for a three-year term.

If you are interested in serving on the Needham Council for Arts & Culture, please contact the Select Board’s office at the Needham Town Hall or complete an online committee interest form.

Send an Email

Contact the Needham Council for Arts & Culture