State funding for local arts sees big increase from the $70K in 2019, and $210K in 2023

Photos by Tom Rivers: Mary Jo Whitman (speaking in front at right) and Jodi Fisher (left), co-coordinators of the Statewide Community Regrant Program for GO Art!, announce the awards in Orleans County during a program Saturday at Hoag Library in Albion.

ALBION – The arts and cultural scene in Genesee and Orleans counties is getting a big funding boost through the Statewide Community Regrant Program.

GO Art! announced $336,000 in grants for artists and community events that celebrate the arts in 2024. That is up from $210,000 in 2023, and well above the $70,000 that was available for the two counties in 2019.

This year there will be $210,151 for programs and artists in Genesee County, and $125,849 in Orleans County. GO Art! tends to divvy up the funds in a 60-40 split. Genesee gets more because it has more people than Orleans – 58,388 compared to 40,343.

Mary Jo Whitman, co-coordinator of the community grants program for GO Art!, said the big increase in state funding will allow for more murals, more support for concerts, and more creative projects to build stronger connections locally.

She is hopeful the state won’t cut back on the new higher funding limit, but she said the amounts are unknown in the future.

Although Go Art! was able to fund more projects and programs in 2024, Whitman said there were some proposals that didn’t get funding because there wasn’t enough money for every project. She would like to see more arts funding in the future because there is a demand for it.

“We are investing in projects, people and the future of our two counties,” she said Saturday at Hoag Library in Albion, where the Orleans grants were announced.

The Community Arts (REACH) grants provide seed money to individual artists, collectives and arts organizations for projects and activities that enable Genesee and Orleans counties communities to experience and engage with the performing, literary, media and visual arts.

The grants include the following:

ORLEANS COUNTY

• E-Yah-Pah-Hah Wind Quintet: $5,000 for Classical Music Series in Albion Community
• Barre Betterment Committee: $1,000 for Square Dance at the Town Park
• Laura Jackett with fiscal sponsor, Lee-Whedon Memorial Library in Medina: $5,000 for Art Workshops at the Libraries
• 

  Rob Klino from Friends of Boxwood accepts the grant for the organization dedicated to Medina’s historic cemetery. Boxwood will rededicate a restored stained-glass window in the chapel on May 18 and will put on its Boxwood at Night event on Oct. 5.

  Julie Berry with community partner, Community Action of Orleans & Genesee: $5,000 for Live Jazz Swing Bands for Community Social Dances

• Friends of Orleans County Marine Parks: $5,000 for OONA Summer Concert Series
• Community Action of Orleans & Genesee: $3,000 for “Community Action Helping People Change Lives,” a mural on the building at Main Street Corner Thrifts, Gifts and More
• Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum: $1,000 for “Capture the Light”
• Albion Merchants Association: $4,000 for Albion Merchants Association’s 2024 Event Season
• Lakeshore Arts Incorporated: $1,331 for Lakeshore Fine Craft Workshops
• Tegan Leach with community partner, Orleans County Cornell Cooperative Extension: $4,519 for “Transforming Natural Fibers through Spinning and Dyeing”
• Greater Albion Community Recreation and Events: $5,000 for Village of Albion Summer Festival featuring Rock the Park
• Orleans County Cornell Cooperative Extension: $1,799 for Craig Wilkins and Craig Wilkins Band – Senior Lunch performance at Orleans County 4-H Fair
• Lee-Whedon Memorial Library: $5,000 for Finally Fridays! concert series
• Yates Community Library: $5,000 for Yates Community Library – More Than Just Books summer concert series
• Friends of Boxwood Cemetery: $5,000 for Boxwood at Night
• The Cobblestone Society: $5,000 for the Cobblestone Museum Arts Series
• Lyndonville Lions Club: $5,000 for “I Hear the Music”
• Village of Holley: $3,000 for Village of Holley Canal concert series
• Community Free Library: $5,000 for Continuation of Myron Holley Erie Canal Mural, with new mural by Arthur Barnes
• Care Net Center of Greater Orleans: $5,000 for “Artists and Their Styles”
• C.W. “Bill” Lattin with community partner, The Cobblestone Society: $5,000 for reprint and additions to his book, “Architecture Destroyed in Orleans County, N.Y.”
• Village of Holley: $2,000 for festival series
• Canalside Radio Inc.: $5,000 for “Harmonizing Communities: The Canalside Radio Initiative”
• William Schutt with fiscal sponsor, Village of Albion: $5,000 for “Lighting the Erie Canal,” a lamppost made from old steel from the Main Street lift bridge
• Village of Albion: $5,000 for Village of Albion Summer Concert Series
• Hoag Library of the Swan Library Association: $5,000 for Hoag Music Series
• Michelle Cryer with community partner, Town of Carlton: $5,000 for Carlton Mural at the Cove

Arthur Barnes stands next to this painting which he will do large scale on the back of Community Free Library in Holley. He will paint it to blend with a canal mural done last year by Tony Barry. Barnes said this will be his sixth mural in Orleans County. The first five were all Erie Canal scenes.

GENESEE COUNTY 

• Batavia Concert Band: $5,000 for Music in the Park Summer Concert Series
• Holland Purchase Historical Society: $5,000 for HLOM Guest Speaker & Concert Series
• Haxton Memorial Library: $5,000 for “Talented Thursdays”
• Alexander Volunteer Fire Department Band: $4,837 for Alexander Volunteer Fire Department Community Performances
• The Elba Betterment Committee: $4,550 for “EBC Presents….”
• Oakfield Betterment Committee Inc: $5,000 for Oakfield Labor Daze
• Genesee Chorale Inc.: $5,000 for Genesee Chorale Season’
• Village of Bergen: $2,300 for Hickory Park Concert Series
• Rebecca A O’Donnell with community partner, Warrior House of WNY INC: $4,000 for “Creative Community Connections at the Goose”
• Batavia Business Improvement District: $5,000 for Jackson Square Concert Series
• David F. Burke with Community Partner Warrior House of WNY INC: $2,500 for “Wings” Mural for The Goose Community Center
• Heather Kathleen Davis with community partner St. Mark’s Episcopal Church: $3,100 for “Opera on the Oatka”
• Genesee Symphony Orchestra: $5,000 for Genesee Symphony Orchestra’s 78th Season
• Byron-Bergen Public Library: $5,000 for “Arts in our Community”
• Mandy Taylor with community partner, City of Batavia Fire Department: $2,900 for “Main Street Fire Hydrant Murals”
• Bergen Business and Civic Association: $5,000 for Bergen Park Festival
• Woodward Memorial Library: $4,979 for “Art All Year, Take Two”
• St. Mark’s Episcopal Church: $2,415 for “Music at St. Mark’s’”
• Kathlyn Baker with Community Partner, Warrior House of WNY: $5,000 for “Art Exploration Project”
• Genesee, Livingston, Orleans, Wyoming OUT!: $5,000 for GLOW OUT! Pride Festival
• Village of Corfu: $5,000 for Corfu Farmers Market Music Series
• GLOW YMCA, Inc.: $1,000 for GLOW Corporate Street Beat
• Gillam-Grant Community Center: $4,640 for “A Spectrum of Art”
• The Batavia Players, Inc.: $5,000 for 2024 Season
• Marianne Skye with community partner, Warrior House of WNY: $5,000 for “Groovy Moves-Family Music and Movement”
• Friends of Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge Incorporated: $4,710 for “Artful Observation: Inspired by Nature”
• Joshua Lang with community partner, Batavia Concert Band: $2,500 for “Holst: Suite de Ballet movement 4”
• Magen Peters with fiscal sponsor, Batavia Business Improvement District: $5,000 for “Fairy Doors of Downtown Batavia”
• Lorie Longhany with community partner, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church: $4,000 for “The Joy Project”
• Jennifer Grey with fiscal sponsor, Batavia Business Improvement District: $5,000 for “Summer Groove of Jackson Square”
• Sara Tenney with fiscal sponsor, Batavia Business Improvement District: $5,000 for “Summer Sounds of Jackson Square”
• Everpresent Church: $3,600 or “Take My Hand” Mural
• Town and Country Garden Club of LeRoy: $5,000 for “Rooted Harmony: Artistic Benches Cultivating Community Connection”
• LeRoy Historical Society: $4,305 for “Discovering LeRoy’s Ingham University: The First Woman’s University in the Country”
• Jill Pettigrew with community partner, Village of Corfu: $5,000 for “Roadside Art Gallery’
• Justin Benedict with community partner, Richmond Memorial Library: $5,000 for “The Nightroad Volume 1”
• Andy Rich with community partner, Batavia Players: $5,000 for “Acting and Filmmaking Outside of Major Markets”
• Hollwedel Memorial Public Library: $5,000 for “Shake on the Lake – Henry V”
• James Lullo with Fiscal Sponsor, Batavia Players Inc.: $5,000 for “Kitty”
• Brian Kemp with community partner, Batavia Business Improvement District: $5,000 for “2024 TableTopArtShow”
• Oakfield Historical Society Inc.: $5,000 for “History Comes Alive”

Randy Reese of Medina accepts a grant for “Harmonizing Communities” initiative on Canalside Radio, which is currently available online. He announced it has been approved as an FM station at 107.9. Jodi Fisher, at right, helped present the grants on Saturday for Go Art!

Individual Artist Commission (RIPPLE) supports local, artist-initiated activity, and highlights the role of individual artists as important members of the community. The commission is for artistic projects with outstanding artistic merit that work within a community setting.

ORLEANS COUNTY

• Patricia Greene: $2,500 for “Images of Beauty”
• Eric Weatherbee: $2,500 for “The Humble Bard Presents”

GENESEE COUNTY

• David F. Burke: $2,500 for “Extension to Harvester Center Hallway Mural”
• Thom Jennings: $2,500 for “Missing Man – The Vince Welnick Story”
• Joshua Lang: $2,500 for “Suite de Ballet Mvt 3”
• Eric Zwieg: $2500 for The Family Model

The Arts Education Program (SPARK) is offered in two funding strands: K-12 In-School Projects and After-School and Community-based Learning. Emphasis is placed on the depth and quality of the creative process through which participants learn through or about the arts

ORLEANS COUNTY     

• Brandi Zavitz with community partner, Lyndonville Central School District: $5,000 for “Mural in Music Hallway”
• Judd Sunshine for Erie Canal Songwriting Project with fourth-graders

GENESEE COUNTY

• Linda Fix with fiscal sponsor, BCSD Foundation Community Schools: $5,000 for “#It Takes A Village”
• Bart Dentino with community partner, Oakfield-Alabama Central School District: $4,815 for “The Spaces Between the Leaves”
• Chris Humel with community partner, The Office For The Aging: $5,000 for “Cartooning For Seniors”

Renderings courtesy of Governor’s Office: A new visitors center about the Erie Canal is planned for Canalside in Buffalo. “Waterway of Change: A Complex Legacy of the Erie Canal” will share the story of the Erie Canal.

Press Release, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Office

BUFFALO – Governor Kathy Hochul today announced plans for “Waterway of Change: A Complex Legacy of the Erie Canal,” a new Erie Canal bicentennial visitors experience at Canalside in Buffalo.

On May 7, after four years of construction in the Longshed, the replica Erie Canal Boat Seneca Chief will move out to make way for interior construction and installation of the new experience in the building.  Work will be completed in time for next year’s Erie Canal Bicentennial.

“Waterway of Change will share the remarkable story of the Erie Canal and the area now known as Canalside with visitors,” Governor Hochul said. “As the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal approaches in 2025, this visitors experience will draw more people to Buffalo’s waterfront and help them connect to its history in a new and participative way.”

The concept for the 2,900-square-foot Longshed, located at Canalside on the historic western terminus of the Erie Canal, is to create a visitors experience that acts as a gathering space and starting point for visitors beginning their Bicentennial Commemoration journey. Plans include visitors’ experiences that will explain and detail how Canalside’s timeline, from its beginnings as traditional homeland of the Haudenosaunee to the development of a rural village at the time the Erie Canal opened in 1825, to a thriving port and shipping hub at the end of the 19th century.

Waterway of Change will include interactive multimedia exhibits for visitors of all ages and abilities, sharing Buffalo’s Erie Canal story in an inclusive and diverse way through the use of short films, touch screens, audio, historical artifacts and dramatic lighting. A series of outdoor interpretive exhibits will also be created at towpaths along and around the canals.

The 2,900-square-foot Longshed will include interactive multimedia exhibits for visitors of all ages and abilities.

Local Projects, a multi-disciplinary exhibition and media design firm based in New York City, has been working with the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation to create the visitor experiences for the Longshed and Canalside. Other partnerships include exhibit fabrication, with Buffalo’s Hadley Exhibits, and project development with the Buffalo History Museum.

The museum is providing interpretive content and historical guidance through all phases of the project. The collaboration includes consulting with a diverse group of community stakeholders and subject matter experts to ensure Buffalo’s Erie Canal story is shared with visitors from multiple perspectives and viewpoints.

Additionally, the content in the visitors’ experience will be utilized by schools to supplement their Erie Canal history curricula during visits to the Longshed. The content will meet New York State Education Department standards to broadly reach and resonate with Grade 4-12 educational experiences.

New York State Canal Corporation Director Brian U. Stratton said, “On the eve of the Erie Canal’s 200-year anniversary milestone, we are thrilled to be working with Governor Hochul and our agency partners to bring to life Waterway of Change at Canalside in Buffalo. The Erie Canal holds a special significance in New York’s history, and this new interactive exhibit will tell the story of the canal and New York’s Queen City to visitors from near and far. Throughout the next two years and culminating with the 2025 World Canals Conference in Buffalo, the Canal Corporation is eager to celebrate the Erie Canal’s Bicentennial as we prepare for the next century of operations and opportunities along the entire New York State Canal System.”

While the anniversary of the bicentennial will likely be marked at events throughout New York State, Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation is planning a large celebration at Buffalo’s Canalside, which will also host the World Canals Conference in 2025. That event, first announced by Governor Hochul in June 2022, will bring together canal and inland waterway enthusiasts, professionals and scholars from around the world to learn about a variety of canal-related topics.

The event will highlight Buffalo’s transformed waterfront district, which has seen more than $400 million in new investment, including new hotels, a major sports arena, a children’s museum, retail shops and a re-created waterway on the footprint of the original Erie Canal in the Queen City. Today, the Buffalo waterfront attracts more than 1 million annual visitors.

In 2020, a wood frame structure at the northern end of the Central Wharf, now called the Longshed Building, was completed. The structure reflects on the history of the wharf location by incorporating elements from the Joy and Webster Storehouse that was situated on the site in the early 1800s. Work on the building, which incorporates select interior modifications to incorporate a small office, transient boater shower rooms, and public restrooms, is currently being completed.

High taxes, shortage of workers among challenges

Provided photo: Senator Rob Ortt and Regional Director of SUNY Brockport SBDC Lindsay Ward speak with local small business owners

Press Release, State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt

KENDALL – Today, New York State Senator Rob Ortt hosted a small business roundtable in partnership with SUNY Brockport Small Business Development Center Regional Director Lindsay Ward at The Grove 1848 in Kendall.

A variety of businesses and entrepreneurs were represented with backgrounds and interests including, realty, agriculture, retail, food service, healthcare, banking, among others attending the meeting to learn more about the successes and struggles of businesses around Orleans and Monroe counties.

“There is no better way to learn what business owners are dealing with, both good and bad, than hearing directly from them – I’d like to thank everyone who took time out of their busy schedules to join us this morning for a lively discussion on what is and what is not working for Western New York’s Business Climate,” Ortt said. “I’m always thankful to be able to gather with and hear from local businesses and deliver the latest news out of Albany and how legislative changes could or will directly affect their livelihood and bottom line.”

Participants talked about many concerns over running a business that include increased taxes, failure to address issues with unemployment insurance, staffing shortages and utility costs. Strict rules and regulations governing many businesses from the local level up to the state level remain chief among the top concerns of small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Senator Ortt introduced and continues to champion the Red Tape Reduction Act (S869). This legislation would require that when a rule is adopted that imposes a new administrative burden on a business, one or more existing rules must be amended or repealed to offset the cost of the new administrative burden. This would also require the identification of the rule to be repealed whenever a new rule is proposed.

There are many avenues business owners and entrepreneurs must navigate including the laws and regulations of their respective industry, securing loans to fund their business, in addition to hiring qualified and reliable people to help out. It can be an overwhelming task for any person to deal with, especially if this is their first time.

Thankfully, there are well qualified experts to help and offer guidance through many of the processes. The SUNY Brockport Small Business Development Center is one such place and Regional Director Lindsay Ward oversees and assists a large portion of Western New York businesses in an area serving Genesee, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, and Wayne ​counties with confidential business advisement at no charge.

“I would like to thank Senator Ortt for hosting the small business roundtable discussion with small businesses and entrepreneurs within Orleans and Monroe counties, and in partnership with the SUNY Brockport Small Business Development Center,”  Ward said. “We are  proud to share all the resources that our center offers to support entrepreneurs and small businesses across Western New York. I encourage anyone to feel free to reach out to our center anytime for assistance with their small business.”

Press Release, Tonawanda Seneca Nation

TOWN OF ALABAMA – The U.S. Fish and WIldlife Service has announced its decision to pull a permit that would have allowed construction of an industrial wastewater and sewage pipeline through the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. The Tonawanda Seneca Nation, which opposes the pipeline, commended USFWS on its decision.

“This industrial wastewater pipeline through our ancestral lands threatened harm to the Refuge, our people, and our way of life,” said Chief Roger Hill of the Nation. “We asked the Fish and Wildlife Service to terminate this permit nearly two years ago, and only went to court when our repeated requests were denied. The Service made the right decision to pull this permit and protect the land and waters.”

The Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1958 to support migratory waterfowl, maintain the health of Oak Orchard Creek and its floodplain and wetlands, preserve habitat, and enhance outdoor opportunities for local communities.

The Tonawanda Seneca Nation first called on USFWS to pull the permit in September 2022, citing fatal flaws in its issuance that included failure to consult with the Nation. USFWS refused the Nation’s request and allowed pipeline construction to begin in July 2023. Construction was halted in September 2023 following multiple spills of hundreds of gallons of drilling fluids onto federally protected land and wetlands, and the Nation filed suit against USFWS in federal court in November 2023.

Cleanup of the spills has taken more than seven months and included removal of more than 73 tons of contaminated drilling mud from wetlands in the Refuge, with engineers and state regulators acknowledging that some drilling mud cannot be removed and will likely remain in the environment permanently. The Nation’s lawsuit argues that the pipeline permit approval and subsequent drilling violated the National Wildlife Refuge Improvement Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act.

In its decision, USFWS found that “construction of [the pipeline] cannot be completed as originally permitted and… the environmental impacts extend beyond the permitted Right-Of-Way (ROW).” USFWS noted that termination of the permit would be effective as of June 24, 2024, and clarified that any further proposed pipeline construction would require the developer to file a new permit application.

The decision represents a stinging blow to developer Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC), which intended construction of the pipeline to draw industrial tenants to the proposed Western New York Science, Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park (WNY STAMP).

While the agency has receivedc$100 million in state funding for WNY STAMP since 2005, including $56 million recently awarded by Governor Hochul, WNY STAMP remains unoccupied. Its sole tenant, Plug Power, has suspended construction of a facility there due to cash shortages and market conditions.

The Plug Power project has received state subsidies totalling $270 million, or $4 million per promised job. The project fails to meet baselines required by New York’s “Smart Growth” law, and both Plug Power and WNY STAMP were included in Western New York’s list of “Biggest Business Losers” by the Buffalo News in 2023.

According to a 2017 New York State Department of Environmental Conservation study, visitors coming to fish Oak Orchard Creek, Lake Ontario, and its tributaries in Orleans County bring $27 million to the region every year. Contamination caused by WNY STAMP would jeopardize these economic benefits.

The Tonawanda Seneca Nation, a federally recognized Indian Nation, has raised concerns about the WNY STAMP industrial mega site since its inception. The project poses an existential threat to the people and culture of the Nation, as well as threats to birds, fish, deer, water, and medicinal plants in the Big Woods that border WNY STAMP. Federal law requires robust consultation with the Nation on projects that affect it, and federal guidance directs agencies to aim for consensus with Indian Nations.

According to Chief Hill, “Protecting the land and water for future generations is one of our greatest responsibilities, and preventing this pipeline through the Refuge is an important step. But our Nation still faces a looming threat from the proposed STAMP industrial site and we hope to move forward collaboratively with the Fish and Wildlife Service and New York State to ensure potential impacts from heavy industry are fully analyzed and avoided before permits are issued. It shouldn’t take an environmental disaster for agencies to follow the law.”

Editor’s Note: The Genesee County Economic Development Center on April 25 announced it is working closely with the towns of Oakfield and Alabama, along with the village of Oakfield and regulatory agencies to construct a force main to accommodate the current projects at STAMP and a potential future project.

“As the Oakfield line cannot fully replace Orleans County line we will continue to pursue the force main to Oak Orchard Creek in the town of Shelby through a different construction method and we look forward to working with United States Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Tonawanda Seneca Nation as this process moves forward. The Oakfield plan alleviates the timing pressures for the build-out of the force main to Oak Orchard Creek.”

The GCEDC said it is in the process of submitting a new permit application to propose an open cut construction method which will avoid the types of incidents that resulted from the horizontal directional drilling.

Gov. Kathy Hochul on April 26 announced construction started for the Edwards Vacuum factory at STAMP. That $319 million facility will make technology that is a vital component to controlling the highly sensitive environment of semiconductor manufacturing processes, Hochul said.