After giving out $270K in grants, GO Art! announces $115K more is available

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 6 June 2025 at 7:05 pm

Funds support arts and cultural programs in Genesee, Orleans

Photos courtesy of GO Art! – (Left) Idris Salih accepts a grant for a photography project. (Center) Kae Wilbert leads a quintet, E-YAH-Pah-Hah, that performs Native American music. (Right) Randy Reese of Medina accepts a grant for Canalside Radio to upgrade its equipment.

BATAVIA – The Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council today announced a second round of grants is available for arts and cultural projects in the two counties.

GO Art! on April 25 distributed about $269,905 in grants to 46 different organizations and artists in the two counties. With the second round, $115,000 more will be available.

Applications for the funds are due June 20. The money is available through the Statewide Community Regrant Program (SCR), a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts. It was developed in 1977 to ensure that the state’s cultural funding would reach every part of the New York State.

The cornerstone of SCR is its focus on local decision making through a transparent and competitive peer review panel process.

Gregory Hallock, executive director for GO Art!, and Jodi Fisher, program director & Statewide Community Regrant Co-Coordinator, announce the grants April 25 during a celebration at Wise Intermediate School in Medina. Another round of funding is now available.

Altogether, GO ART! will be regranting $385,000 through SCR to artists and nonprofit organizations for projects and programming taking place in 2025.

The Peer Review Panel recommended 46 applications for funding from the first round. Applicants were eligible to apply for up to a total of $5,000 in the categories of Community Arts (Reach) and Arts Education (Spark), and $3,000 for Individual Artist Commissions (Ripple).

The categories and recipients are as follows:

REACH: The GO ART! Community Arts Grants provide seed grants to individual artists, collectives and arts organizations for projects and activities that enable Genesee and Orleans County communities to experience and engage with the performing, literary, media and visual arts. Each year the program supports arts projects, including concerts, performances, public art, exhibitions, screenings, festivals, workshops, readings and more.

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

SPARK: The Arts Education Program 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.

Artists, nonprofits, and municipalities seeking funding for arts related projects, programming, and events in Genesee and Orleans counties are encouraged to apply to the second round of SCR funding through GO ART!

For more information on applying for the Statewide Community Regrant Program visit: goart.org/grants or contact Jodi Fisher at jfisher@goart.org.

These grants are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Orleans County recipients:

Lee-Whedon Memorial Library – Finally Fridays! 2025
Yates Community Library – More Than Just Books
Brandi Zavitz – For the Love of Dogs Mural
Lyndonville Lions Club – I Hear the Music
Kim Martillotta-Muscarella – Mosaic Compass Rose
Village of Holley – Village of Holley Canal Series
Town of Carlton – Orleans County Ox art for bicentennial
Carol Culhane – Orleans Bicentennial Ox Community Public Art Project
Village of Albion (Fiscal Sponsor for Mary Jo Whitman) – The Village of Albion in Pictures
Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum – The Art of the Aurora at the Oak Orchard Lighthouse
Greater Albion Community Recreation and Events – Albion Summer Festival featuring Rock the Park
Village of Albion – Village of Albion Summer Concert Series
Friends of Boxwood Cemetery – Boxwood at Night – See the Cemetery In a New Light
Orleans County Historical Association (Fiscal Sponsor for C.W. Lattin and Neil Johnson) –Historic Markers Erected During The 20th Century in Orleans County, New York
Albion – July 3rd, Independence Day Celebration
Tegan Leach – Sharing the wonder of fiber arts
Hoag Library of the Swan Library Association – 2025 Hoag Music Series
Friends of Orleans County Marine Park – 2025 OONA Summer Concert Series
E-YAH-Pah-Hah Wind Quintet – Classical Music Series in Albion
Orleans County Chamber of Commerce, Barre Betterment Committee – 2025 Barre Betterment Committee Public Events
The Canalside Radio – Bringing The Canalside Radio to the Airwaves: Essential Equipment for Community Broadcast Expansion
Idris Salih – American: Intimate portraits of who we are as a society.
Judd Sunshine – Erie Canal Songwriting Project
Janet Klossner – Steps for fiber processing, from raw fleece to yarn. A series of 3 classes.

(Left) Robby Klino, president of Friends of Boxwood Cemetery, appreciated the funds for the “Boxwood at Night” event. (Right) Chris Manaseri, president of the Oak Orchard Lighthouse Museum, accepts a grant for the museum’s “The Art of the Aurora at the Oak Orchard Lighthouse.”

Genesee County recipients:

Batavia Concert Band – 2025 Batavia Concert Band Summer Concert Series
Warrior House of WNY – Community Acoustic Music Nights
Alexander Volunteer Fire Department Band – Alexander Volunteer Fire Department Band Season 2025
Haxton Memorial Public Library – Talented Thursdays
Batavia Business Improvement District – Jackson Square Concert Series
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church – Music at St. Mark’s
Richmond Memorial Library (Fiscal Sponsor of Laura Jacket) – Arts at the Libraries
Batavia Business Improvement District (Fiscal Sponsor for Jennifer Gray) – Summer Grooves of Jackson Square
Batavia Business Improvement District (Fiscal Sponsor for Sara Tenney) – Summer Sounds of Jackson Square
Woodward Memorial Library in LeRoy – Workshops at Woodward
Hollwedel Memorial Library in Pavilion – Shake on the Lake Presents William Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’
Justin Benedict – The Nightroad Anthology Two
Andy Rich – Acting for Large Markets II
Oakfield Betterment Committee – Oakfield Labor Daze
Melissa Lee – Tree Sweaters
Village of Bergen – Hickory Park Concert Series
Richmond Memorial Library – Shake on the Lake: The Tempest
Gillam-Grant Community Center – Cultivating Creativity: Fostering Community Through Art and Culture
Byron-Bergen Public Library – Enriching lives through Arts and Music
The Genesee Symphony Orchestra – The Genesee Symphony Orchestra’s 79th Concert Season
Genesee Chorale – Genesee Chorale Seasons for 2025
Genesee, Livingston, Orleans, Wyoming, OUT! – GLOW OUT! Pride Festival 2025
Brian Kemp – Table Top Art Show
Bergen Evangelical Presbyterian Church – Spring Concert Series
Laurence Tallman – Native Sojourns for Wind Quintet
GLOW YMCA – GLOW Corporate Cup Street Beat
Batavia Development Corporation – City Centre Exterior Cityscape Mural
David Burke – Mural panels
Heather Davis – Opera on the Oatka
Mary Jo Whitman – Breaking Boundaries: Art Installation in City Centre
William C. Schutt – Love Wins
Cecelia “Chee” Lullo – Zucchini
Deb Slusser – Creativity in Clay
Chris Humel – Cartooning For Seniors
Leah Peca – Community Youth Art Lessons
Bart Dentino – “The Spaces Between the Leaves”