CCAC Hosts First Regional Community-Arts-Grants Reception
Wednesday April 14, 2010
By Eva Potter
"On March 20, 2010, the Cattaraugus County Arts Council (CCAC) hosted the first ever regional reception to celebrate the recipients of the 2010 Community Arts Grants. The event was held at the SenecaAlleganyCasinoConferenceCenter in Salamanca, with entertainment by the Seneca Junction Chorus and their breakout quartet, 22nd Time. The reception was attended by nearly 140 people from Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and AlleganyCounties.
Community Arts Grants are funded by the New York State Council of the Arts (NYSCA) Decentralization Program and are locally administered by Kim LaMendola Driscoll, CCAC’s programs and grants manager. The Decentralization Program has supported community-based arts and cultural activities since 1977. All funding dollars remain local and CCAC must apply to NYSCA annually for re-grant monies. This year CCAC awarded a total of $53,500. Ms. Driscoll said, “This money goes to small, nonprofit arts and cultural organizations that are doing grassroots programming.”
Restricted budgets, retracted services, as well as guidance from NYSCA gave CCAC the impetus to provide further networking support for various nonprofit arts groups so they could share resources, ideas and challenges with similar groups. Ms. Driscoll said, “One of the reasons I wanted to do this was to introduce nonprofit organizations to their peers in the two adjacent counties.”
In order to better serve communities’ needs, NYSCA has partnered with local arts and cultural organizations in every county across the state to decentralize the process of funding arts programming. CCAC serves as the local grant-making organization for a wide range of art disciplines in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and AlleganyCounties. Funding decisions are made by a panel of local peers in each county. Grants help non-profits like libraries, theater groups, music groups and other cultural organizations subsidize their programming.
Ms. Driscoll said, “A lot of the applicants and recipients are libraries, because the libraries in the small communities act like multi-arts centers. So, the library staff throughout the three counties got a chance to get together.”
Laura Flanigan, director of the Ellicottville Memorial Library, said they have received annual funding for various arts programs including Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” Artists at Work workshops, the Mountain Music Makers workshops and other programs. She said, “We try to alternate between music, theater and art.”
This year the library was awarded a $300 grant for arts programming. Volunteer Liz Boberg has donated her time to help plan out five art programs for kids throughout the summer, which will coincide with the library’s summer reading program. Ms. Flanigan said, “It (funding) gives us a little money to be more creative and purchase materials and, therefore, we can do more creative projects rather than just doing the usual.”
Regional government representatives also attended the reception. Senator Cathy Young and Assemblyman Joe Giglio have been “staunch supporters of continued arts funding,” noted Ms. Driscoll. “I was really pleased to see Senator Young and Assemblymen Giglio, Parment and Burling stop in to say hello, wish everyone well and congratulate everyone.”
This year’s funding program was hit with an 11 percent cut for 2010, and 2011’s funding cuts may be as deep as 30 to 50 percent, estimated Ms. Driscoll. “We won’t know until the state budget is passed how much money is available to NYSCA for 2011 support. All the arts councils or organizations that administer the decentralization funding have submitted their requests for 2011 and we’re just crossing our fingers and hoping to remain level.”
In order to qualify for funding, artists and organizations must submit formal applications and meet very specific criteria. Ms. Driscoll said she is “available in the field for anyone who needs help with program development, basic grant writing, help in developing the application, and follow through with execution, as well as help with challenges and brainstorming.” Ms. Driscoll can be reached through CCAC’s website at www.myartscouncil.net.
Community Arts Grants 2010 recipients:
Cattaraugus County: Chamber Music Society of Olean $2,000; Ellicottville Memorial Library $300; Gowanda Area Chamber of Commerce $400; Gowanda Free Library $400; Gowanda’s Historic Hollywood Theater $1,400; Keynote Chorus $1,500; Mental Health Association of Cattaraugus County $700; Olean Community Theatre $2,300; Olean Theatre Workshop $2,000; Pfeiffer Nature Center $600; Randolph Free Library $300; Salamanca Area Chamber of Commerce $1,400; Seneca Junction Chorus $700; Seneca-Iroquois National Museum $1,900; Southern Tier Symphony $2,100; Village of Gowanda $750; Village of South Dayton $850.
Allegany County: Angelica Booster Citizens (Angelica Players) $1,500; Angelica Lions Club $555; Belfast Public Library $935; Camelot Choraleers $1,125; Cuba Circulating Library $1,705; David A. Howe Library, Wellsville $1,615; Essential Club Free Library, Canaseraga $470; Fountain Arts Center $750; Genesee Valley Chorus $1,500; Richburg Colonial Library $300; Village of Wellsville (Music on the Lawn) $2,000; Wellsville Performing Arts Orchestra $1,400; Wide Awake Club Library, Fillmore $845.
ChautauquaCounty: Alexander Findley Community Library $1,350; American Scandinavian Heritage Foundation $1,650; Cherry Creek Community Association $1,430; Eastside Family YMCA, Jamestown $2,200; Farman Free Library, Ellington $685; FentonHistoryCenter $2,400; GreatLakeFX $2,705; Jamestown Audubon Society $2,000; Joint Neighborhood Project, Jamestown $1,380; Patterson Library, Westfield, $800; Unitarian Universalist Congregation $2,650."
"Thanks to our friends at the 'Ellicottville Special Effects Newspaper' and Eva Potter for this story.
Community Arts Grants are funded by the New York State Council of the Arts (NYSCA) Decentralization Program and are locally administered by Kim LaMendola Driscoll, CCAC’s programs and grants manager. The Decentralization Program has supported community-based arts and cultural activities since 1977. All funding dollars remain local and CCAC must apply to NYSCA annually for re-grant monies. This year CCAC awarded a total of $53,500. Ms. Driscoll said, “This money goes to small, nonprofit arts and cultural organizations that are doing grassroots programming.”
Restricted budgets, retracted services, as well as guidance from NYSCA gave CCAC the impetus to provide further networking support for various nonprofit arts groups so they could share resources, ideas and challenges with similar groups. Ms. Driscoll said, “One of the reasons I wanted to do this was to introduce nonprofit organizations to their peers in the two adjacent counties.”
In order to better serve communities’ needs, NYSCA has partnered with local arts and cultural organizations in every county across the state to decentralize the process of funding arts programming. CCAC serves as the local grant-making organization for a wide range of art disciplines in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and AlleganyCounties. Funding decisions are made by a panel of local peers in each county. Grants help non-profits like libraries, theater groups, music groups and other cultural organizations subsidize their programming.
Ms. Driscoll said, “A lot of the applicants and recipients are libraries, because the libraries in the small communities act like multi-arts centers. So, the library staff throughout the three counties got a chance to get together.”
Laura Flanigan, director of the Ellicottville Memorial Library, said they have received annual funding for various arts programs including Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” Artists at Work workshops, the Mountain Music Makers workshops and other programs. She said, “We try to alternate between music, theater and art.”
This year the library was awarded a $300 grant for arts programming. Volunteer Liz Boberg has donated her time to help plan out five art programs for kids throughout the summer, which will coincide with the library’s summer reading program. Ms. Flanigan said, “It (funding) gives us a little money to be more creative and purchase materials and, therefore, we can do more creative projects rather than just doing the usual.”
Regional government representatives also attended the reception. Senator Cathy Young and Assemblyman Joe Giglio have been “staunch supporters of continued arts funding,” noted Ms. Driscoll. “I was really pleased to see Senator Young and Assemblymen Giglio, Parment and Burling stop in to say hello, wish everyone well and congratulate everyone.”
This year’s funding program was hit with an 11 percent cut for 2010, and 2011’s funding cuts may be as deep as 30 to 50 percent, estimated Ms. Driscoll. “We won’t know until the state budget is passed how much money is available to NYSCA for 2011 support. All the arts councils or organizations that administer the decentralization funding have submitted their requests for 2011 and we’re just crossing our fingers and hoping to remain level.”
In order to qualify for funding, artists and organizations must submit formal applications and meet very specific criteria. Ms. Driscoll said she is “available in the field for anyone who needs help with program development, basic grant writing, help in developing the application, and follow through with execution, as well as help with challenges and brainstorming.” Ms. Driscoll can be reached through CCAC’s website at www.myartscouncil.net.
Community Arts Grants 2010 recipients:
Cattaraugus County: Chamber Music Society of Olean $2,000; Ellicottville Memorial Library $300; Gowanda Area Chamber of Commerce $400; Gowanda Free Library $400; Gowanda’s Historic Hollywood Theater $1,400; Keynote Chorus $1,500; Mental Health Association of Cattaraugus County $700; Olean Community Theatre $2,300; Olean Theatre Workshop $2,000; Pfeiffer Nature Center $600; Randolph Free Library $300; Salamanca Area Chamber of Commerce $1,400; Seneca Junction Chorus $700; Seneca-Iroquois National Museum $1,900; Southern Tier Symphony $2,100; Village of Gowanda $750; Village of South Dayton $850.
Allegany County: Angelica Booster Citizens (Angelica Players) $1,500; Angelica Lions Club $555; Belfast Public Library $935; Camelot Choraleers $1,125; Cuba Circulating Library $1,705; David A. Howe Library, Wellsville $1,615; Essential Club Free Library, Canaseraga $470; Fountain Arts Center $750; Genesee Valley Chorus $1,500; Richburg Colonial Library $300; Village of Wellsville (Music on the Lawn) $2,000; Wellsville Performing Arts Orchestra $1,400; Wide Awake Club Library, Fillmore $845.
ChautauquaCounty: Alexander Findley Community Library $1,350; American Scandinavian Heritage Foundation $1,650; Cherry Creek Community Association $1,430; Eastside Family YMCA, Jamestown $2,200; Farman Free Library, Ellington $685; FentonHistoryCenter $2,400; GreatLakeFX $2,705; Jamestown Audubon Society $2,000; Joint Neighborhood Project, Jamestown $1,380; Patterson Library, Westfield, $800; Unitarian Universalist Congregation $2,650."
"Thanks to our friends at the 'Ellicottville Special Effects Newspaper' and Eva Potter for this story.
