Arts Services Initiative has awarded an additional $94,820 in emergency grants to local artists and nonprofit arts and cultural organizations affected by the COVID-19 crisis. This event brings the granted total from our WNY Arts Emergency Relief Fund to $192,790, supporting a total of 69 organizations and 56 individuals.
Grants were awarded to artists and organizations based in five counties in Western New York, including Erie, Niagara, Allegany, Chautauqua, and Cattaraugus. In addition to this round’s 33 individual artists, teaching artists, and creative workers who received funding, grants were awarded to the following nonprofit arts and cultural organizations:
- American Repertory Theater of WNY
- Buffalo Gay Men’s Chorus, Inc.
- Buffalo Girlchoir
- Buffalo Inner City Ballet
- Buffalo Maritime Center
- Buffalo Niagara Heritage Village
- Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus
- Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
- Carnegie Art Center
- Chautauqua Regional Youth Ballet
- Chopin Singing Society
- Colored Musicians Club of Buffalo NY, Inc.
- German-American Musicians Association, Inc.
- Hamburg Natural History Society/Penn Dixie
- Hull House Foundation
- Kenan Center Inc.
- Lewiston Council on the Arts Inc.
- Lock City Glee Club
- Lucille Ball Little Theatre of Jamestown
- National Comedy Center, Inc.
- New Phoenix Theatre on the Park, Inc.
- Niagara County Historical Society
- Rock Autism, Inc.
- Second Generation Theatre Company, Inc.
- Shakespeare in Delaware Park
- Springville Center for the Arts
- Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Art Center
- Sugar City
- The Kavinoky Theatre
- The Olean Theatre Workshop
- Theatre of Youth Company, Inc.
- Tri-County Arts Council
Applications are still open and will continue to be reviewed on a rolling basis. Applicants will be assessed based on the following criteria: need for funding; urgency of request; impact of funding on the organization or individual; and efforts to continue art and creative practice beyond COVID-19.
On May 8, 2020, we announced our first round of grants totaling $97,970 to 60 individual artists and nonprofit arts and cultural organizations. Funds will continue to be raised and distributed based on evolving needs related to the pandemic.
“We’re proud of the work we’ve done so far, but we have a long way to go,” ASI Executive Director Jen Swan-Kilpatrick said. “ASI will do everything we can to ensure that our arts community makes it to the other side of this crisis.”
ASI’s WNY Arts Emergency Relief Fund is possible because of generous support from Fund for the Arts, a funder’s cooperative of public, private, family and corporate foundations that assesses the needs of our arts community, promotes collaboration and strengthens the sector through systems change approaches. This fund is also supported by the Marilyn Gohr McTaggart Reveal Fund at the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, a Family Fund at the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, and the individual donors of ASI’s GoFundMe campaign. To join the effort, please visit asiwny.org/wny-arts-emergency-relief-fund.
