NEWS: New York State Senators secure $1 million for CNY Arts initiatives
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York State Senators secure $1 million for CNY Arts initiatives
$510,000 to be distributed across six counties in Central New York and Mohawk Valley
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - CNY Arts announced today that it has been awarded $1,000,000 for Statewide Community Regrants (SCR) and capacity enhancement initiatives. The funds were secured through a New York State Senate Initiative and are being awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts. Of this amount, $510,000 will be regranted to arts and cultural organizations and artists across Central New York and Mohawk Valley. The remaining award amount will fund capacity-building projects including an online arts and entertainment calendar, technical assistance programs, workshops, and outreach initiatives.
The CNY Arts SCR Program is designed to create a vigorous arts community in the Central New York and Mohawk Valley regions by providing project-specific support to individual artists and nonprofit organizations for arts, culture, history, and heritage programs.
“One of the reasons Central New York is known for its outstanding quality of life is our vibrant and exciting art community that attracts people to come and, even more, to stay here”, said Senator Rachel May (SD-53). “I’m proud to have advocated for additional funding for the arts during the budget process, and I’m excited to see how the $1 million for CNY Arts will further support our flourishing art community.”
The SCR funds will allow CNY Arts to distribute more than twice as many awards in 2023 than it has in previous years. As a result, CNY Arts will be awarding at least 120 grants to organizations and artists in Cortland, Herkimer, Madison, Oneida, Oswego, and Onondaga Counties.
“The creative economy and our talented artists make our cities beautiful, our communities vibrant, and enhance the quality of life across Central New York,” said Senator John W. Mannion (SD-50). “As an enthusiastic supporter of the arts, I made it a priority to pass record funding for upstate arts organizations including $1 million for CNY Arts. I am grateful for all that CNY Arts does for the region and I look forward to seeing the wonderful artistic creations that this funding enables.”
CNY Arts started participating in SCR (formerly known as the Decentralization program or DEC) in 1997. In recent years CNY Arts has distributed on average $199,500 annually to individual artists and nonprofit organizations throughout its six-county service region. Grant awards range from $500 to $5,000 each.
“We are grateful for the crucial support of New York State Senators Rachel May and John W. Mannion under the leadership of Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who secured CNY Arts a 150% increase in SCR funding,” said Executive Director, Stephen Butler. “We are so appreciative that these funds were then approved by the Governor and Assembly.”
CNY Arts’ 2023 SCR grant cycle is now officially open. SCR support is available to not-for-profit organizations, including arts agencies, historical sites and heritage programs, and cultural entities, as well as human service and community agencies that offer arts programming. Additional opportunities exist for individual artists, musicians and performers, teaching artists, school arts teachers K-12, and arts faculty. The application deadline is Friday, December 16, 2022. Awards will be announced in February 2023.
The three SCR grants administered by CNY Arts are the Community Arts Grant (CAG), the Individual Artist Commission (IAC), and the Arts Education Grant (AEG). The Community Arts Grant provides support to individual artists, collectives, and community non-profit organizations for arts and cultural projects. The Individual Artist Commissions represent a “live and work” investment in local artists to support the creation and presentation of new works. The Arts Education Grant supports teaching artists and arts educators to engage students in rich and meaningful experiences.
The Statewide Community Regrants Program is a regrants program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor's Office and the New York State Legislature.
More information and eligibility requirements can be found on the CNY Arts website at CNYARTS.ORG.
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CNY Arts is the regional arts council, promoting, supporting, and celebrating arts and culture in Central New York. CNY Arts provides support and assistance to artists and arts organizations in a six-county Central New York and the Mohawk Valley region through access to grants, capacity-building assistance, education and training, and promotional services.