Good News: 

We are pleased to share the news that for the first time in five years the New York State Council on the Arts has not had its funding reduced in the Executive Budget, which is recommended by the Governor. Please join us in thanking Governor Cuomo for his support for State Arts Funding which is so important for upstate in producing quality arts and culture, jobs, tourism activity and enhanced community vitality.  Click here to send the Governor an email thanking him.

The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo
Governor of New York State
NYS State Capitol Building
Albany, NY 12224

Speak Up for the Arts!
Arts Advocacy Day - February 14, 2012

  Arts supporters from all around New York State will visit their legislators in Albany on Tuesday, February 14th to speak up for the arts on Arts Advocacy Day 2012.

Visual artists, authors, actors, musicians, dancers, and arts professionals of all kinds will join representatives from arts councils, museums, and cultural organizations to request strong support for NYSCA - the New York State Council on the Arts. This is an important opportunity to remind our state senators and representatives how valuable arts and cultural services are in communities from Long Island to Buffalo, and from Plattsburgh to Binghamton. The services and grants provided by NYSCA help to support large and small cultural institutions and arts programs across the state of New York. These organizations and activities create jobs, enhance tourism, and are an essential ingredient in small rural towns and large urban centers.

Join the chorus and let your voice be heard! Plan to be in Albany on February 14th to let your legislators know that you support state funding for the arts. You can visit www.ArtsNYS.org to learn more about Arts Advocacy Day, or contact your regional arts council for more information about legislative visits in Albany and at district offices around the state.

Please click here to visit Art NYS Coalition website.

Please Contact the CRC directly for more information. 

The Future Fund of Central New York is Seeking Grant Applicants

The Future Fund of Central New York is requesting grant applicant letters of intent from nonprofits that provide art-enrichment programs to low-income youth or promote the arts to an underserved population. The letter of intent deadline is February 17, 2012. One grant of up to $5,000 will be awarded in May 2012. Tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations serving Onondaga or Madison counties are encouraged to apply. More information about the Future Fund and a letter of intent form is available at www.futurefundofcny.org.  If you have any questions, please contact Danielle Gill at 315-883-5554 or DGill@cnycf.org.

The Future Fund of Central New York is a member-driven giving circle administered by the Central New York Community Foundation. Its mission is to involve and empower emerging philanthropists to make our community a better place to live and work. Annual membership dues are contributed to an endowment at the Community Foundation, and members vote on the grant topic and projects. While the endowment builds, matching donors provide the funding for immediate grantmaking.

The Central New York Community Foundation has served Central New York for 85 years, receiving, managing and distributing charitable funds for the benefit of not-for-profit organizations. Grants are awarded for programs in the areas of human services, arts and culture, education, environment, health, economic development and civic affairs. The region's largest endowed philanthropic foundation, the Central New York Community Foundation awards over $5 million in grants to not-for-profit organizations annually. The Community Foundation, of 431 East Fayette Street, Syracuse, NY 13202 can be reached at (315) 422-9538 or www.cnycf.org.  

The 2012 Michael Harms Theater Festival is scheduled for Saturday, March 31, 2012 at Cayuga Community College. The Festival seeks to foster greater interest in theater work by students and teachers in secondary schools. Find out more about the Festival and get registration forms on the Harms Fest page of the CRC's website. 

           to insure that the role of the arts in the life of our communities will continue to grow and will play an ever more significant part in the welfare and educational experience of our citizens and in maintaining the paramount position of this state in the nation and in the world as cultural center.

Immediately after that section of the enabling legislation is the following very unique aspect of the legislation:

           It is further declared that all activities undertaken by the state in carrying out this policy shall be directed toward encouraging and assisting rather than in any ways limiting the freedom of artistic expression that is essential for the well-being of the arts.

           For several decades, our State Council on the Arts remained at the forefront of innovation in funding, in the design of processes for decisions about applicant requests, and in the level of funding available to organizations throughout the state. That is simply no longer the case.  Nor is that loss of prestige and innovation merely about money.

           Vision does not depend on funding. However, the State Council on the Arts faces a real dilemma.  It has fostered and assisted in the development of hundreds of arts groups around the state. Many are now mature artistically, but remain financially fragile, especially in economically depressed regions of the state, or the poorer neighborhoods of our cities. It is also simply a fact that private funding is very limited in rural areas and the history of private giving to groups of color is not commensurate with either their needs or their contributions to the cultural life of their cities and communities.  And in New York City, the sheer number of outstanding arts groups leaves many mid-sized and smaller groups, no matter what their quality, with little access to private dollars.

           These mature arts groups still genuinely need funding from the State Council on the Arts, but the size and quantity of this segment of our cultural sector, leaves little room for the new groups. Council funding allocations are so diminished that it cannot adequately provide rational levels of support to any group. It has also been handicapped in developing new responses to the changed conditions of the last few years.

           Our efforts this year during the budget session should start with a proposal that the legislature join with its arts partners throughout the state in committing to rebuild the State Council on the Arts to a grants funding level of $50 million over four years. That requires an increase of $4.5 million each year.

           We must begin the process of sharing with the legislature ideas and concepts for re-imagining the State Council, both as we discuss this funding request and in the months ahead.  We believe that the arts build social capital essential to a civil society, that we transcend differences among groups and open the door to greater understanding between the incredibility diverse people of this great state. We believe that artists and arts workers have skills that are needed in the innovative industries of today, and many are already working in those industries.  We know that cultural activities and events are critical in bringing tourists to the state.  We offer as yet untapped solutions to assist with the economic re-development and job creation of this state.

           As we have challenged ourselves, we are now asking the legislature to partner with us as the budget is developed, and to be ready to talk further with us over the next few months about re-imagining this state agency to better serve both the arts and the citizens of this state.

Norma Munn is the long time Director of the NYC Arts Coaltion and partners with local and regional arts agencies throughout New York state on issues that affect the arts and culture sector.