In its ongoing support of New York State arts organizations and artists facing unprecedented challenges as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, The New York State Council on the Arts will award $490,000 in NEA CARES Act funds to 49 organizations in nine regions of the state.
NYSCA NEA CARES Grants of $10,000 each will be awarded to community-based arts organizations that have a proven track record of essential contributions to their communities. Supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, these grants will be used to support staff salaries, fees for artists or contractual personnel, and facilities costs.
“The arts and culture are critical to the health of our communities, our state, and our country, and will be vital to our recovery,” said Mara Manus, Executive Director, New York State Council on the Arts.
“Throughout the unprecedented challenges of the past months, our State’s cultural sector has shown incredible ingenuity and resilience. As we begin to navigate reopening, NYSCA is committed to supporting New York’s vibrant arts community that provides important educational, civic, and economic opportunities across the state.”
NYSCA’s awards will support a broad constituency across New York, including a wide range of organizations that reach primarily underserved areas, including communities with ethnically diverse and immigrant populations, those that are geographically remote, and those with limited economic resources.
NYSCA NEA CARES grantees represent 23 New York State counties and a wide variety of arts disciplines and include:
- Youth FX, Albany, which provides digital film and media training to youth from underserved communities
- Prattsville Arts Center, Prattsville, a community arts and social services center with a pivotal role in its rural community’s flood recovery plan
- Rehabilitation through the Arts, Katonah, whose arts instruction improves outcomes for the justice-involved; participants’ recidivism rate is 12 times below the national average
- National Black Theatre, Harlem, a pioneer in Black theatre productions created to uplift, strengthen, and heal Black communities; over 300 works have been produced and toured internationally
- Ganondagan, Victor, a Finger Lakes destination for Native American arts and culture; a National Historic Landmark, and the only NYS historic site devoted to Indigenous Americans
- Pendragon Theatre, Saranac Lake, a North Country theatre central to its city’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative plan, providing year-round performance, arts education, workforce training, and opportunities for young playwrights
A complete list is available below.
Of NYSCA NEA CARES grant recipients all had annual budgets of $1.5 million or below; 80% had budgets under $1 million, and 53% had budgets below $500,000. Grantees are based in the Capital Region, Central New York, Finger Lakes, Long Island, Mid-Hudson, New York City, North Country, Southern Tier and Western New York.
In addition to NYSCA NEA CARES support, NYSCA is providing a diverse set of resources to aid in arts organizations’ recovery including the NYSCA PRESENTS webinar series, guidelines and best practices for reopening and recovery, guidance on creating digital programs, and listings of relief funds open to New York State arts organizations and artists.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provides economic assistance for American workers, families, and small businesses, and preserves jobs for our American industries, including the arts sector. Through the CARES Act, the National Endowment for the Arts is distributing $75 million to help save jobs in the arts sector and keep the doors open to the thousands of organizations that add value to America’s economy and the creative life of our communities. Forty percent of this funding has been distributed through state arts agencies, including NYSCA.
The arts and culture play an essential role in New York State’s economy, contributing $120 billion annually and accounting for 460,000 jobs. CARES funding, provided both through NYSCA and through direct NEA grants, will help support those jobs and nonprofit organizations during this time of great need so that arts and culture will persevere as a significant contributor to the state economy.
NYSCA NEA CARES Grantees
Organization
|
County
|
Region
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Adirondack Center for Writing
|
Franklin
|
North Country
|
African Film Festival
|
New York
|
New York City
|
Akwesasne Cultural Center
|
Franklin
|
North Country
|
Buffalo Arts Studio
|
Erie
|
Western New York
|
Borinquen Dance Theatre
|
Monroe
|
Finger Lakes
|
Brooklyn Arts Exchange
|
Kings
|
New York City
|
Center for Traditional Music and Dance
|
New York
|
New York City
|
Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County
|
Tompkins
|
Southern Tier
|
Community Design Center Rochester
|
Monroe
|
Finger Lakes
|
Dyckman Farmhouse Museum
|
New York
|
New York City
|
Bristol Valley Theater
|
Ontario
|
Finger Lakes
|
Ganondagan
|
Ontario
|
Finger Lakes
|
Girls Write Now
|
New York
|
New York City
|
Herstory Writers Workshop
|
Suffolk
|
Long Island
|
Kitchen Theatre Company
|
Tompkins
|
Southern Tier
|
Lake George Music Festival
|
Warren
|
Capital Region
|
Locust Street Art
|
Erie
|
Western New York
|
Los Pleneros de la 21
|
New York
|
New York City
|
Ma-Yi Theater Company
|
New York
|
New York City
|
The Art Effect
|
Dutchess
|
Mid-Hudson
|
MONO NO AWARE
|
Kings
|
New York City
|
National Black Theatre
|
New York
|
New York City
|
Nesin Cultural Arts
|
Sullivan
|
Mid-Hudson
|
New York Chinese Cultural Center
|
New York
|
New York City
|
New York Deaf Theatre
|
Kings
|
New York City
|
New York Folklore
|
Schenectady
|
Capital Region
|
North American Cultural Laboratory
|
Sullivan
|
Mid-Hudson
|
Pendragon Theatre
|
Franklin
|
North Country
|
People's Theatre Project
|
New York
|
New York City
|
Prattsville Art Center
|
Greene
|
Capital Region
|
Rehabilitation Through the Arts
|
Westchester
|
Mid-Hudson
|
PUSH Physical Theatre
|
Monroe
|
Finger Lakes
|
Quintet of the Americas
|
Queens
|
New York City
|
Rhizome
|
New York
|
New York City
|
Schweinfurth Art Center
|
Cayuga
|
Central New York
|
Cinemapolis
|
Tompkins
|
Southern Tier
|
Shakespeare in Delaware Park
|
Erie
|
Western New York
|
Springville Center for the Arts
|
Erie
|
Western New York
|
Society for New Music
|
Onondaga
|
Central New York
|
The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes
|
Steuben
|
Southern Tier
|
The Center for Photography at Woodstock
|
Ulster
|
Mid-Hudson
|
The Depot Theatre
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Essex
|
North Country
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The Rosendale Theatre Collective
|
Ulster
|
Mid-Hudson
|
The Whaling Museum and Education Center
|
Suffolk
|
Long Island
|
Traditional Arts In Upstate New York
|
St Lawrence
|
North Country
|
West Kortright Centre
|
Delaware
|
Southern Tier
|
Writers & Books
|
Monroe
|
Finger Lakes
|
Young Audiences of Western New York
|
Erie
|
Western New York
|
Youth FX
|
Albany
|
Capital Region
|