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GO ART! distributes record-high $107K to artists and community organizations

Staff Reports Posted 11 April 2022 at 8:29 am

Another $35K also allocated in ‘restart’ grants to help cultural groups

BATAVIA – The Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council announced $107,800 in grants for artists, community organizations and municipalities to support concerts and other cultural activities in 2022.

The funding is the most ever in the 35 years that GO ART! has partnered with the New York State Council on the Arts. GO Art! distributes the state money through the Statewide Community Regrant Program. GO ART! has now regranted over $1.5 million in the 35 years through regrant programs, which supports local arts and artists in our community.

The Statewide Community Regrant Programs consists of three different grants: Reach, Ripple and Spark.

Reach – The Reach grants provide seed funding to individual artists, collectives and arts organizations for projects and activities that enable Genesee and Orleans communities to experience and engage with the performing, literary, media, and visual arts. Each year the program supports over arts projects, including concerts, performances, public art, exhibitions, screenings, festivals, workshops, readings, and more.

Reach grantees for 2022 include:

  • Orleans County YMCA – YMCA Visual Community Culture, $4,500
  • Village of Albion – Concerts on the Canal, $2,410
  • Lyndonville Lions Club – I Hear the Music, $5,000
  • Cobblestone Museum – The Cobblestone Museum Arts Series, $5,000
  • Village of Holley – Concerts in Canal Park, $2,200
  • Yates Community Library – More than just books, $4,950
  • Village of Medina – Painting of Murals, $3,460
  • Eric Weatherbee – the Humble Bard Presents, $2,500
  • Gilliam Grant Community Center – Collage of Art, $4,450
  • Bergen Historical Society – Silent Film Series, $3,000
  • The Elba Betterment Committee – EBC Presents Art around Town, $2,350
  • Holland Purchase Historical Society – Holland Land Office Museum Guest Speaker and Concert Series, $3,250
  • Genesee Symphony Orchestra – The Genesee Symphony Orchestra’s 76th Season, $5,000
  • Batavia Central School District Foundation – Pop Up Art Show, $1,685
  • Byron Bergen Public Library – Art and Music in Our Community – Enriching Lives Through the Arts, $4,459
  • Batavia Players – 2022 Theatre Season, $5,000
  • Genesee Chorale – Genesee Choral 2022 Season, $5,000
  • Batavia Concert Band – 2022 Summer Concert Series, $5,000
  • Hollwedel Memorial Library – Shake on the Lake presents MacBeth, $5,000
  • Batavia Community Garden – Community Garden in Bloom, $5,000
  • Oakfield Betterment Committee – Labor Daze, $5,000
  • Genesee County Chamber of Commerce – Genesee County Mural Trail, $4,500
  • Woodward Memorial Library – Art on the Go, $1,286
  • Haxton Memorial Library – Talented Thursdays, $5,000

Ripple – The GO ART! Individual Artist Commission (Ripple Grant) supports local, artist-initiated activity, and highlights the role of artists as important members of the community. The Ripple funding is for artistic projects with outstanding artistic merit that work within a community setting.

The Ripple grantees include:

  • Eric Weatherbee – The Humble Bard Magazine, $2,500
  • Mandy Humphrey – Beacon Street Mural, $2,000
  • Bart Dentino – Concert in the Classroom: Can you see what you hear? – $2,500

Spark – The Arts Education Program (Spark grant) supports arts education projects for youth and/or senior learners. Emphasis is placed on the depth and quality of the creative process through which participants learn through or about the arts. Projects must focus on the exploration of art and the artistic process.

The Spark grantees include:

  • Judd Sunshine – Erie Canal Songwriting Project, $3,300
  • Bart Dentino – The Spaces Between the Leaves, $2,500

In addition to the annual Statewide Community Regrant Program, GO Art! was given a one-time additional funding opportunity through the Restart NY Regrant Program to provide another $35,000 in grants.

The Restart NY Regrant Program was developed as part an initiative to spur the revitalization of New York’s creative economy. The program was administered through a network of local and regional organizations through a transparent peer panel funding process and was available to artists and organizations in each of the state’s 62 counties.

Through the Restart NY Regrant Program, GO ART!, NYSCA and the New York State Legislature hoped to provide immediate support to promote arts experiences and fuel the reopening and recovery of performance organizations and groups.

Grants opportunities were prioritized for organizations and artists planning live performing arts projects, those planning projects and events that are open to and engage public participation and audiences in Genesee and Orleans counties.

Grantees include:

  • Oakfield Betterment Committee
  • Friends of the Batavia Peace Garden
  • GLOW Out!
  • Gilliam-Grant Center
  • Batavia Concert Band
  • St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
  • The Landmark Society of Genesee County