The administration of Gov. Deval Patrick recently awarded grants totaling nearly $14 million to support new building projects for nonprofit arts and cultural organizations, schools and communities across Massachusetts.

"Investments in our creative economy stimulate growth and opportunity in every corner of the Commonwealth," Patrick said in a statement. "Through this new round of funding, we are continuing to create a more vibrant place for our students to learn, our families to live and our businesses to grow."

Organizations receiving funding in this round plan to invest $264 million in their projects. Grants will be capitalized with $15 million from Governor Deval Patrick’s fiscal year 2014 capital budget.

The new round includes 81 capital grants totaling nearly $13 million and another 48 planning grants totaling just under $1 million. Grants range from $7,000 to $600,000, and must be matched with funds from private philanthropy and/or other public sources.

Projects that received funding include:

• $440,000 to the New Bedford Port Society to restore the Seamen’s Bethel and Mariner’s Home as a Fishing Heritage Center that will relate the city’s maritime history for visitors and schoolchildren.
• $380,000 to Artists for Humanity to expand its South Boston facility and serve more city teens with education and job training in the visual arts.
• $260,000 for the Massachusetts International Festival of the Arts to help it restore the Victory Theatre and boost commercial activity in downtown Holyoke.

A full list of projects can be found online on the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund’s (CFF) website.

"Our region benefits from more nonprofit cultural organizations per capita than anywhere in the nation," Anita Walker, executive director of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, said in a statement. "The CFF sustains this rich cultural legacy and ensures that more of our families can enjoy all that is has to offer."

In total, CFF-funded building projects are spending more than $1.6 billion, providing more than 16,400 building jobs to architects, engineers, contractors and carpenters.  The organizations also plan to add 1,572 permanent jobs after their capital projects are complete.

MassDevelopment and the Massachusetts Cultural Council jointly administer the CFF. A Governor-appointed Cultural Facilities Fund Advisory Committee provides oversight to the fund’s operation.