Founded in 1989, Newton Community Pride (NCP) is a non-profit organization building community through free arts and culture programming, public art, beautification projects and volunteerism. We rely solely on donations from local businesses, individuals and grant opportunities. Some of our 2023 highlights include the 2 day WinterFest in February with a community soup social in the Highlands, a family winter walk through Cold Spring Park, and a Winter Market, ice sculptures and live music in Newton Centre; the springtime city-wide public art installation of Celebrate Newton Banners, and the summertime Linda Plaut Festival of the Arts with 12+ performances over 2 days and a fall Village Music Concert Series bringing live music to four villages across Newton.
In addition throughout the year we tend to the award winning gardens in Newton Center and the Highlands, provide $10,000 in Community Micro Grants to artists, art organizations and neighborhood groups and distribute the Nancy Quint Schon Arts Scholarship to 3 high school seniors pursuing the arts in higher education.
We remain committed to our historical roots and support Newton’s Parks, Recreation & Culture Department with our largest individual community grant. In 2022, NCP gave over $20,000 to the City of Newton to support such programs as summertime Sunday afternoon concerts, the Fourth of July Celebration and the city-wide Halloween Window Painting as well as provide the operational scaffolding by acting as the Fiscal Sponsor for event organizers and special projects that align with our mission such as Newton Open Studios, PorchFEST, Tonewood and Newton Singers.
Newton Community Pride is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization governed by a 17 member board of directors led by co-chairs, Meryl Kessler & Gloria Gavris, and staffed by Blair Lesser Sullivan, Executive Director. Our EIN is 22-2793 743.
If you’d like to learn more about NCP, please email bsullivan@newtoncommunitypride.org or if you would like to help us continue to provide free community programming to the City of Newton, please make a donation here.
