Sixty-one area nonprofits and community organizations have been awarded a total of $296,730 for arts programming as a result of a new partnership between Rochester Area Community Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).
Each nonprofit or public organization received a one-time grant of up to $5,000 to support art projects that increase audience reach, organizational capacity, or equitable access to their programming. The grants were announced today at a press conference outside SWAN’s Montgomery Neighborhood Center, a grant recipient based in Southwest Rochester.
In March, NYSCA awarded $430,000 to Rochester Area Community Foundation Initiatives, an arm of the Community Foundation. Most of the money was to be regranted to support programs for underserved communities in Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Seneca, Wayne and Yates counties. Recent NYSCA grant recipients — 2018 or later — were not eligible.
To promote this new funding opportunity, the Community Foundation did extensive outreach throughout the application process, including holding a virtual webinar and information sessions at community sites.
“We received applications from organizations new to the Community Foundation as well as NYSCA,” said Annette Jiménez Gleason, the Foundation’s senior program officer for vitality. “Our NYSCA review committee of local arts community members also provided thorough, thoughtful insights and offered mentorship for newly emerging organizations that applied for funding.”
The advisory committee members were:
- Mimi Lee, president and board chair of the Asian/Pacific Islander/American Association;
- Julio Saenz, visiting lecturer in communication for Rochester Institute of Technology’s College of Liberal Arts;
- Ian Wilson, Wall/Therapy;
- Danny Hoskins, artistic and managing director at Blackfriars Theatre; and
- Elizabeth Long, executive director of Finger Lakes Opera.
“I loved learning about the diverse projects that are out there, supporting and championing underserved communities and individuals. All of them are doing such important and potentially life-changing work for students and the community,” said Hoskins. “I hope that all of the recipients are able to implement their projects with the greatest impact and success!”
The remaining NYSCA funding is underwriting an in-depth study of the state’s creative economy outside of New York City, with a focus on the Albany, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse metros and other select regions. The study will be used to understand trends, inform arts funding, promote the importance of the arts to community vitality and success, and allow for cross-regional benchmarking and sharing of ideas. The study, already underway, is expected to be completed next year.
The Foundation is one of the most visible and significant arts funders in the Rochester-Finger Lakes region. Ten percent of its total annual grantmaking, including more than $3 million from donor-advised funds, benefits arts and culture across a wide variety of disciplines. Annual competitive arts grants, which total on average $250,000, assist organizations ranging from small community theater and literary groups to major performing and visual arts institutions.
“Our extensive knowledge of the local and regional arts landscape was critical to the success of this collaboration with NYSCA. We were proud to make this additional state funding possible for dozens of organizations offering arts-related programs,” said Jennifer Leonard, president and CEO of the Community Foundation.
Recipients of grants of up to $5,000 and their projects are:
540WMain, Inc.: Anna Murray Douglass and Rosetta Douglass Public Mural
Agape Haven of Abundance: Urban Youth Empowerment Program
Cheshire Community Action Team: Summer Arts
City Roots Community Land Trust: Art on the Avenue
Community Resource Collaborative Inc.: HEAL Project
Cornell Cooperative Extension Yates County: 4-H Fine Arts and Crafts Project Kits for Youth and Families
Educational Success Foundation: Our Voices Mural Project
EnCompass: Summer of the Arts
EZ Kids Creativity Shell: Sewing/Textile Arts Education for Mental Health
Finger Lakes Area Counseling & Recovery: Exploring Cultures through Art
Finger Lakes Community Band: Working With An Underserved Community
Finger Lakes Cultural and Natural History Museum: Mural Project
First Universalist Society of Rochester: Honorarium for Musicians Performing in Eastman at Washington Square Concerts
Friends of the Three Bears: Cultural Community Connections
Genesee Valley Orchestra and Chorus: Honoring Florence Price, Nathaniel Dett and Margaret Bonds Through Music and Community
GiGi’s Playhouse: Music in Motion
Greentopia: The Symbol
Hinge Neighbors Inc.: Composers Crossing 2.0
Ibero American Action League, Inc.: Día Dominicano at the International Plaza
Irondequoit Community Orchestra: Amplifying Local Voices
Isaiah House, Inc.: Flower City Arts Documentary “Terminal”
Jazz 90.1 FM/Greece Community Broadcasting: Community Concert Series
Jewish Family Service of Rochester, Inc.: Pencils & Paper Program
Kids That Roc: GENERATION Z
Linwood Ltd.: “Macbeth” at Linwood Gardens
Literacy Volunteers of Wayne County, Inc.: Literacy Through the Arts
Lyons Community Center: The Lyons Youth Art Council
M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence: Mural Restoration
Madrigalia: 2022-23 Season Programming
Mary Cariola Children’s Center: Creative Arts
Mentors Inspiring Boys & Girls: Breaking the School to Prison Pipeline Stage Play
Metro Council for Teen Potential: Mighty Liberators
Monroe County Family Coalition: L.O.V.E. is the Answer Mural Arts Project
Nativity Preparatory Academy of Rochester: Art Lessons with Flower City Arts Center
New York Kitchen: Tasteful Creations
New York State Network for Youth Success: Using Art to Expand the Horizons of High-Needs Rural Children
Orleans County Cornell Cooperative Extension: 4-H Family and Consumer Sciences Identity and Belonging Fashion Project
Our Lady of Mercy School for Young Women: Children’s Theatre
Puerto Rican Festival, Inc.: For the Festival
Rainbow Junction, Ltd: Updated and Specialized Art Supplies
Roc Royal Foundation, Inc.: 585 DREAM
Rochester Academy Charter School: STEAM Family Nights and School Assemblies
Rochester Childfirst Network: Summer Adventures 2022
Rochester Community Players: Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra at the Highland Bowl in July 2022
Rochester Institute of Technology: Planning Meeting for Deaf/Blind Children’s Play
St. Michael’s Woodshop: Summer Program 2022
St. Peter’s Community Arts Academy: The Success of the Next Generation… A Community Partnership
Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion State Historic Park: Community Conversation Programs for 2022
South Wedge Planning Committee: Arts in the Market
Southwest Area Neighborhood Association: Concerts & Crafts at Montgomery Neighborhood Center
Spiritus Christi Prison Outreach, Inc.: Family Reunification: Arts & Nature Project
Student Arts Foundation: Arts Day 2022
Swillburg Neighborhood Association: Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Blanche Calloway
Trillium Health: MOCHA Center Power Mural
United Youth Music and Arts, Inc.: Drumline and Martial Arts
Veterans Outreach Center: Artistic Expressions From Those Who Have Served Our Nation
Villa of Hope: Arts Reaching and Teaching
Wayne Action for Racial Equity: Artists as Historians — Empowering Wayne County Youth to Overcome the Whitewashing of Local History
Wayne County Action Program, Inc.: Using Art to Expand the Horizons of High-Needs Rural Children
Wayne County Historical Society: Wayne County Memories Book
YWCA-Rochester & Monroe County: Activists and Allies
