15 July 2010
LONG ISLAND ARTISTS
AND ARTS ORGANIZATIONS
ENCOURAGED TO APPLY FOR
HIGHLY COMPETITIVE
ARTS AND CULTURE GRANTS
HUNTINGTON, New York - Huntington Arts Council, Inc., in concert with Long Island Decentralization, covering Nassau and Suffolk counties, encourages not-for-profit organizations and individual artists to apply for its 2011 Long Island Decentralization Grants for the Arts program. Huntington Arts Council, Inc. is the administrative site for the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) on Long Island.
Individuals with interest and experience in arts and cultural disciplines, including but not limited to Dance, Theater, Music, Visual Arts, Media, Literature, Humanities, Folk Arts, Multidiscipline and/or involvement in arts and cultural organizations throughout Nassau and Suffolk Counties are invited to apply. Funded projects are selected through a comprehensive grant review process.
As state-wide budget cuts threaten to diminish much-needed support for community arts, cultural and education programming, NYSCA and Huntington Arts Council, Inc. will continue to offer grants of up to $5,000 focused entirely on arts and culture projects. Last year, nearly all of the 86 Long Island DEC applicants, mostly volunteers, reported shifts in audience participation and in many cases artistic personnel. Organizations are reconsidering opportunities for cross-promotion through collaboration and transitioning their younger members into leadership roles, all in the name of stabilization.
The changes further emphasize the need and timeliness of the Long Island DEC funding opportunity. "Long Island Decentralization grants are significant and unique," says Diana J. Cherryholmes, Executive Director of the Huntington Arts Council, Inc., "because they are the only state-funded opportunities focused on attracting, engaging and benefiting the public through innovative and collaborative projects. Our DEC grantees represent the region's artistic and cultural diversity as well as drive its tourism."
To apply, individual artists must have sponsorship from a not-for-profit organization and not-for-profit organizations may not have applied to NYSCA directly for any other grant programs within the last two years. Prospective DEC applicants can submit up to three proposals for financial support, which may not exceed the maximum award amount. All applicants are restricted to the county in which they reside and/or have a legal address. The Huntington Arts Council will hold mandatory DEC workshops throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties during late August and early September 2010. All DEC workshops will provide an overview of the program and step by step grant-writing basics.
Please note: ALL APPLICANTS MUST ATTEND A WORKSHOP TO BE ELIGIBLE TO APPLY.
Workshop schedules, grant applications and guidelines are available on the Huntington Arts Council, Inc. website at: www.huntingtonarts.org and at all DEC application workshops. If you would like to be placed on our grants mailing list to receive notification of the upcoming workshops please e-mail or call Melissa Mickens, Grants for the Arts Coordinator, 631-271-8423, x16 or grants4arts@huntingtonarts.org. The application deadline for the Long Island Decentralization Grants for the Arts opportunity is Friday, October 15, 2010.
Founded in 1963, the Huntington Arts Council is a not-for-profit organization which enriches the quality of life of Long Islanders with programs and services that address the needs and interests of artists, cultural organizations and the community. The Council's programs reach over one million Long Island residents, and it serves the entire region with its cultural listings at www.huntingtonarts.org. The Huntington Arts Council has been designated a "Primary Institution" by the New York State Council on the Arts, a title meaning "vital to the cultural life of New York State." The Council is the official arts coordinating agency for the Town of Huntington, and serves as the primary regranting agency on Long Island for the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), in addition to its services to over 600 member cultural organizations and individual artist members.
