01. General Description

The Belmont Cultural Council BCC) is a permanent committee appointed by the Select Board and is a part of a network of local cultural councils (LCC’s) which receive funding through a central state agency, the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC). Funds are regranted by the Cultural Council to individuals and organizations to promote excellence, access, education and diversity in the arts, humanities, and interpretive sciences in Belmont. 

The purpose of the Belmont Cultural Council is to support public programs that promote excellence, education, diversity, and inclusion in the arts, humanities, and sciences to foster a rich cultural life in Belmont. The BCC's primary responsibility is to regrant its annual allocation of funds from the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC). Local council funds may only be used to support programs in the arts, humanities, and sciences in Massachusetts. This definition includes the study, pursuit, performance, exhibition, and appreciation of cultural activities in the broadest sense.

• Arts: The creation of work in the crafts, performing, visual, media, folk, design, literary, and interdisciplinary arts.
• Humanities: Types of learning that deal with human thought and culture, language, and creativity. Examples include, but are not limited to, history, social studies, philosophy, criticism, and literature.
• Sciences: Types of learning that deal with nature, science, and technology in ways that explain how they relate to people's lives. Some examples of organizations that conduct interpretive science activities are aquariums, arboretums, botanical gardens, nature centers, natural history and anthropology museums, planetariums, and science and technology centers.