The future of elevating arts and culture opportunities in the city took a leap forward today as it was announced funding has been made available to develop the Fall River Arts and Culture Coalition (FRACC).
The FRACC was established in 2019, bringing together more than 40 members of the community dedicated to devising initiatives in arts and culture as a process toward improving the livability of those in Fall River and attracting and retaining business.
Seed funding for the FRACC has been provided by BayCoast Bank, the South Coast Community Foundation, Bank5, St. Anne’s Credit Union, and Portugalia Marketplace. The state has also committed $50,000 toward the project. The One SouthCoast Chamber’s Bristol County Chamber Foundation will serve as the fiscal agent overseeing FRACC spending.
As part of the announcement today, the FRACC will be working with urban planning organization CivicMoxie to devise an Arts and Culture Master Plan for Fall River. CivicMoxie founder and principal Susan Silberberg says Fall River has an engaged arts and culture community through which development of the plan will take shape.
Fall River resident Devon Torres has been hired as coordinator for the FRACC. She will serve as the coalition’s point person on the development of the master plan and organize activity within the city’s arts and culture community.
The development of the master plan is expected to take approximately ten months.
Creative Arts Network(CAN), established in 2014, has being been doing this work voluntarily for the past seven years. A duplicate organization that will compete for limited resources and with minimal results.