Wayland Cultural Council distributes $5,200 across 15 community arts grants

WAYLAND — November 8, 2022 — Wayland Cultural Council awards roughly $5,200 across 15 grants for 2023. Acting Chair Rachel Sideman led the council through 33 applications totaling nearly $28,000 in requests against a $6,932 available pool, with members voting unanimously to hold back $1,340 — the full 20 percent allowed — for a utility-box public-art project the Select Board approved Oct. 17 at three locations. The town's Human Rights, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee received the largest single award, $1,000, for its Window on the World festival; the council declined a separate $1,000 request from HRDEI member Yaohua Tang to pay performers at the same event, with Sideman saying it "should be paid for by the committee." Member Sean Ahearn facilitated the scoring, and Musicians of the Old Post Road was cut from the slate as duplicative of other music programming. The next meeting is Dec. 13.