New York – The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) announced today that it will provide over $100 million in funding in support of the State’s effort to rebuild and bolster the non-profit arts and culture sector in the post-COVID era. Part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s FY 2022 Enacted Budget, NYSCA will spearhead the State’s $40 million Recovery Grant Program for non-profit arts and cultural organizations, along with $20 million for new capital grants. Combining this new funding with the state's annual $40 million arts grant program, NYSCA’s funding will provide critical support to meet an array of urgent needs across the sector, ensuring that New York’s vibrant creative economy can continue to reopen safely.

“New York is the heart of the country’s cultural ecosystem, and the State’s historic investment of $100 million illustrates the vital role that the arts will play in reopening and rebuilding in the months ahead. We are incredibly grateful to Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature for their leadership and responsiveness to the sector,” said NYSCA Executive Director Mara Manus. “The devastation to arts and culture cannot be overstated. Prior to the pandemic, the sector accounted for $123 billion of the State’s economy and over 504,000 jobs in the non- and for-profit fields.[1] Over the next 12 to 24 months, this critical funding will help ensure arts organizations can reopen safely. As NYSCA has done since the onset of the pandemic, we will continue to be responsive in addressing the needs of our grantees and the field at-large in all 62 counties, with streamlined guidelines, applications, and reporting processes to create greater access to NYSCA funding.”

Over the past year, research has estimated that the impact of COVID-19 on the vast creative field has resulted in a loss of almost 280,000 jobs and $26.8 billion in revenue.[2] “This staggering impact, coupled with the ongoing need for restrictions to ensure the safety and well-being of artists, workers, and the community as a whole, illustrates the urgent need to provide significantly increased funding directly to arts and culture organizations,” said NYSCA Chair Katherine Nicholls. “Arts and culture are a driving force within the State’s tourism industry, which has been profoundly affected by the pandemic. When arts venues are shuttered, countless professionals working behind the scenes are also impacted, and that includes the restaurant, hotel, transportation, and sanitation sectors, in addition to countless main street businesses, steps away from New York’s cultural attractions. Every dollar spent by local audiences and tourists is an act of vital economic development, and NYSCA is committed to ensuring that the arts and culture sector has the support it needs to reopen safely and once again be a catalyst for our economy.”

Additionally, support for New York’s vast arts and culture business sector will be provided through the  $1 Billion Small Business and Arts Relief and Recovery Assistance Program, which includes $800 million for the State’s COVID-19 Pandemic Small Business Recovery Grant Program that’s providing funding for small businesses including for-profit arts and cultural institutions impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In February 2021, NYSCA distributed over $40 million in grants across all of New York’s ten regions. 1,225 Arts and Cultural Organizations and nearly 150 artists received critical NYSCA support. Additional information about the FY 2022 NYSCA application process and guidelines will be available in late Spring.

About the New York State Council on the Arts 

The New York State Council on the Arts preserves and advances the arts and culture that make New York State an exceptional place to live, work and visit.  

NYSCA upholds the right of all New Yorkers to experience the vital contributions the arts make to our communities, education, economic development, and quality of life. Through its core grantmaking activity, NYSCA awarded over $40 million in FY2021. Though our statewide grants and regrants program, NYSCA funding reaches all 62 counties of New York State. NYSCA funding supports the visual, literary, media and performing arts and includes dedicated support for arts education and underserved communities. NYSCA further advances New York's creative culture by convening leaders in the field and providing organizational and professional development opportunities and informational resources. 

 
Created by Governor Nelson Rockefeller in 1960 and continued and expanded to the present day with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, NYSCA is an agency of the Executive Branch of the New York State Government.

For more information on NYSCA, please visit www.arts.ny.gov, and follow NYSCA's Facebook page, Twitter @NYSCArts and Instagram @NYSCouncilontheArts. 

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[1] Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce, 2019.

[2] “Lost Art: Measuring COVID-19’s devastating impact on American’s creative economy,” by Richard Florida and Michael Seman, published August 2020 by the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings Institute.