Community Foundation approves $15K each for Cobblestone Museum, GO Art!

By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 15 January 2025 at 2:41 pm

Foundation directs $500K to 56 arts and cultural organizations in WNY

Photo by Tom Rivers: The Cobblestone Museum, a National Historic Landmark on Route 104 and Route 98 in Gaines, has been awarded funding from the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo.

GAINES – The Cobblestone Museum and Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council have been approved for $15,000 from the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo.

The Foundation today announced $500,000 to support 56 small to mid-sized arts organizations serving the eight counties of Western New York, plus Monroe County, through its competitive grants process.

The funding comes from the 2024 Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Arts & Culture Initiative. Since the establishment of the Arts & Culture Initiative in 2021 by the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, the Community Foundation has prioritized community feedback in the creation of this annual funding opportunity, the Foundation stated in a news release.

In 2024, an Advisory Committee was convened to further evolve this funding. That committee members synthesized data from the two previous grant years and drew heavily on their own experiences working in grassroots arts nonprofit organizations and as reviewers for grant processes outside of the Community Foundation.

The funding was awarded in two categories:

Category 1: Combined Capacity-Building and General Operating Funds for organizations with at least one full-time (or one FTE) staff member to help organizations build the solid foundation necessary to pursue an ambitious mission and vision.

Grantees include:

Alfred Box of Books Library – $15,000
BFM Arts, Inc. – $15,000
Buffalo Center for Arts and Technology – $13,000
Buffalo Institute for Contemporary Art – $15,000
Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Inc. – $14,000
Carousel Society of the Niagara Frontier – $15,000
Center for Exploratory and Perceptual Arts, Inc. – $15,000
Community Canvases – $14,000
Cordelia A. Greene Library – $15,000
Danceability, Inc. – $15,000
El Museo Francisco Oller Y Diego Rivera – $15,000
Fenton Historical Society of Jamestown, New York – $15,000
Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council – $15,000
Gowanda’s Historic Hollywood Theater, Ltd. – $15,000
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center – $15,000
IndicatorArt Corporation – $15,000
KORP Foundation Inc. – $14,000
Lewiston Council on the Arts Inc – $15,000
Locust Street Neighborhood Art Classes, Inc. – $14,000
North Park Theatre of Buffalo, Inc. – $13,000
Pappy Martin Legacy Jazz Collective – $15,000
Shake on the Lake – $15,000
Sukanya Burman Dance Inc. – $15,000
The Cobblestone Society – $15,000
The Fountain Arts Center, Inc. – $15,000
The Theatre of Youth Company, Inc. – $15,000
West Falls Center for the Arts – $15,000
Western New York Minority Media Professionals Inc – $14,327

Category 2: General Operating Micro Grants up to $2,500 for organizations with less than one full-time staff member to execute immediate programming.

Grantees include:

American Scandinavian Heritage Foundation – $2,500 for Celebrating Scandinavian Folk Cultural Traditions at the Scandinavian Folk Festival
Arts Services Inc. – $2,500 for B.flo-Girls: Creating Connections for Women in Hip Hop
Buffalo Music Hall of Fame – $2,500 for Strengthen Our Foundation
Buffalo Niagara LGBTQ History Project Inc – $2,500 for General Support
Buffalo Society of Artists – $2,500 for Buffalo Society of Artists -Community Engagement Initiative
Canalside Radio Inc – $2,500 for Local Voices, Stronger Signals: LPFM Transmitter Project
Clann Na Cara Parents Organization INC d/b/a Buffalo Irish Dance Parents Organization – $2,500 for BIPDO General Operating Funds Application
Concordia Foundation, Inc. – $1,500 for New Website
Depew Community Action Team, Inc – $2,500 for Arts Education Collaboration with Lancaster Opera House
El Batey Inc. – $2,500 for El Batey Cultural Arts- Areyto: Taino Heritage Festival
El Museo Francisco Oller Y Diego Rivera – $2,500 for Nuestra Cultura: A WNY Multidisciplinary Arts Project
Fractured Atlas – $2,500 for Sotto Voce Presents Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor
Genesee Symphony Orchestra – $2,500 for The Genesee Symphony Orchestra’s 78th Season
Greater Niagara Ballet Company – $2,500 for Nutcracker 2024
GWBN Inc. dba Gardens Buffalo Niagara – $2,500 for Administrative Infrastructure
Leon Historical Society – $2,500 for Leon’s Penny-Royal Race Track – From Horses to Stock Cars to NASCAR
Lucille Ball Little Theatre of Jamestown – $2,500 for Little Theatre of Jamestown Operating Support Micro Grant
Polish Arts Club of Buffalo – $2,500 for Polish Arts Club of Buffalo Eightieth Anniversary
Polish Genealogical Society of New York State – $2,500 for Dziennik dla Wszystkich Newspaper Digitization
Red Blazer Men’s Chorus – $2,500 for Building for the next 75 years in Western New York
Rock Autism – $2,500 for Rock Autism Multimedia Vocational Internships
Starry Night Theatre, Inc. – $2,500 for Restoring our Lobby to create a comfortable gathering place for all
Tonawandas’ Council on the Arts/Carnegie Art Center – $2,500 for Live on the Lawn Concert Series
Ukrainian Congress Committee of America – Buffalo, NY Branch – $2,500 for Ukrainian Saturday School Art, Theatre, Dance and Cultural Outreach
Virtuous Diamonds Foundation Inc – $2,500 for Mentoring, Movement, and Motivation
Vocalis Chamber Choir – $2,500 for Choral Connections and Community Sing Weekend
WAHI Studio, Inc. – $2,500 for General Operating Expenses
YITC Foundation Inc. – $2,500 for YITC Short Film

The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Arts & Culture Initiative was established at the Community Foundation to support arts and culture in the eight counties of Western New York, plus Monroe County, in recognition of the key role arts and culture organizations play in a thriving economy, the Foundation said.

Part of that announcement includes $500,000 in annual funding to be awarded primarily to support small to mid-sized arts and culture organizations in the nine counties.