Eye-catching, colorful public art has been brightening Trapelo Road (among other streets) since 2020. Now, thanks to a vital grant from the Belmont Cultural Council, the Belmont Art Association (BAA) and several other town organizations have money to continue their missions.
The council recently awarded $9,100 to a variety of town organizations that enrich “the Belmont community with music, fine arts, interpretive science, and humanitarian initiatives,” according to the group.
The BAA’s ongoing beautification project, Transforming Belmont, received $1,400 from the council. The grant will fund artists painting utility boxes along town thoroughfares.
The public art “can brighten somebody’s day,” said Darisse Paquette, BAA co-chairwoman since 2018, and co-director of the Belmont Gallery of Art since 2024.
She said in the summer when artists reimagine the drab, grey boxes and turn them into geometric, figural, floral, and abstract works of art, they often get positive feedback from walkers and drivers as they paint.
The beautified boxes have an “uplifting impact on the community at large,” Paquette said.
The council, which is made up of Belmont volunteers, bases its priorities on its annual Community Input Survey, said Chair Vicki Amalfitano. This year, 33 organizations applied for grants and the council was able to give out the following 13 grants:
- Belmont Art Association, Transforming Belmont 2025, $1,400
- Belmont Food Collaborative/Belmont Farmers Market, $500
- Belmont Porchfest, $1,350
- Belmont World Film’s 22nd Family Festival, $500
- Charles River Wind Ensemble, Inc., $550
- Daniel Butler Elementary School, $500
- Friends of the Benton Library, Inc., $500
- Miyawaki Forest Action Belmont (MFAB), $600
- New Moon International Media International Asian Music Festival, $700
- Payson Park Music Festival, $1,150
- Powers Music School, Community Irish Céilí, $600.
- Second Nature Arts, Marvelous Mosaics, $250
- Shalom-Kobii, Tal Shalom, Tribute to Women Composers and Songwriters, $500
According to a press release from Amalfitano, the Belmont Cultural Council is part of the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s network of 329 Local Cultural Councils (LCCs) serving all 351 cities and towns in the state. The state legislature provides an annual appropriation to the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, which then allocates funds to each community.
According to Amalfitano, the amount Belmont receives from the state cultural council has remained flat for the past three years. However, that money remains critical for town art and cultural organizations.
The Belmont Cultural Council tries to “spread the limited money they are given as broadly as possible” to impact the greatest number of people.
“We couldn’t do this at all without [the council’s] funding,” Paquette said. “People can’t afford to go to museums, but if you have public art, it’s accessible to everyone.”
