The Massachusetts Cultural Council hosted the 2017 Commonwealth Awards at the State House on Wednesday afternoon. This year’s honorees included Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart, Paul Grogan of The Boston Foundation, Nancy Donahue, José Mateo, Fitchburg Mayor Stephen DiNatale, Mass Humanities executive director David Tebaldi, the city of New Bedford, The Berkshire Eagle newspaper, the Springfield SciTech High School Band, the Discovery Museums of Acton, and the Greenfield Cultural Council, which was named Local Cultural Council of the Year. Robert Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, was also honored as the first recipient of the JFK Commonwealth Award. President John F. Kennedy’s nephew Stephen Kennedy Smith presented the JFK Commonwealth Award to Lynch at the ceremony. Pictured (from left): Lynch, Lockhart, Nina Fialkow and Anita Walker of the Cultural Council, and Grogan.