ArtsWestchester Announces Grant Opportunities for Artists and Community, Education Projects

Deadline to Apply for Arts Alive Grants is October 4

ArtsWestchester invites artists and non-profit organizations to apply for 2018 Arts Alive Grants. Awarded annually, these grants are specifically designed to support community-based artists and emerging arts organizations.

The variety of projects that receive Arts Alive Grants each year illustrates Westchester’s artistic and cultural diversity. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, October 4, 2017. Applications are available, and may be accessed electronically by visiting: artswestchester.org/grants.

“We are grateful to the Westchester state legislators for this program. Our goal at ArtsWestchester is to make the arts attainable to everyone. This grant is our most effective means of supporting arts activities throughout the county, spanning all communities, economic levels and cultures,” said Janet Langsam, CEO of ArtsWestchester. “It also speaks to our mission to provide leadership, vision, and support to ensure the availability, accessibility, and diversity of the arts in Westchester.”

An independent panel comprised of artists, as well as business, civic and cultural leaders will review the applications and make award recommendations to ArtsWestchester’s Board of Trustees.  Funds are available in three categories:

• Arts Alive Project Grant – Constitutes the largest component of the Arts Alive funding category. These grants support community-based arts and cultural projects developed by arts organizations, groups, collectives, individual artists, and a limited number of other nonprofits that offer open-to-the public arts activities as part of their on-going operations. First time applicants are most competitive. Artists and unincorporated arts organizations may apply for project grants in tandem with a fiscal agent organization. Project Grant Award: $1,000 — $5,000

• Arts Alive Artist Grant – Provides commissioning support to individual artists for the creation of new work presented in a community setting.  This funding supports artist-created work rather than work created by the community under an artist direction. However, an essential element of this funding is the inclusion of community involvement in the development and creative process. Artist Grant Award: $2,500

• Arts Alive Arts Education Grant (Formerly called Arts Partners Challenge Grant) – Provides support for partnerships between individual artists, or arts organizations, and Westchester public schools (grades K-12), after school and lifelong learning programs. Projects must focus on the exploration of art and the artistic process. ArtsWestchester encourages projects that integrate the arts into the curriculum, but curriculum integration is not required. The primary goal is to provide students of all ages with rich artistic learning experiences. Arts-In-Education Grant Award: $1,000 to $2,500

This year, the Arts Alive granted funding to projects that spanned across various projects, including music programming, short story writing workshops for kids, and theater performances. Additionally, cultural festivals and concerts series were among the community events awarded.

Several pre-application workshops will take place over the next few months to help individuals fill out the applications:

Tuesday, July 25
5:30pm
ArtsWestchester
31 Mamaroneck Ave.
White Plains, NY 10601

 

Wednesday, August 9
5:30pm
ArtsWestchester
31 Mamaroneck Ave
White Plains, NY 10601

 

Tuesday, August 29
6pm
Clay Art Center
40 Beech Street
Port Chester, NY 10573

 

Wednesday, August 30
5:30pm
ArtsWestchester
31 Mamaroneck Ave
Irvington, NY  10533

 

Tuesday, September 5
5:30pm
New Rochelle Library
1 Library Plaza
New Rochelle, NY  10801

 

Friday, September 6
5:30pm
Ossining Public Library
53 Croton Avenue
Ossining, NY 10562

 

Thursday, September 7
6pm
Lincoln Depot Museum
10 South Water Street
Peekskill, NY 10566

 

Monday, September 11
6pm
Tarrytown Music Hall
13 Main Street
Tarrytown, NY 10591

 

Tuesday, September 12
5:30pm
PC4 Purchase College Center
for Community and Culture
16 Warburton Avenue
Yonkers, NY  10701

For guidelines, or to download an Arts Alive application, visit: artswestchester.org/aw/arts-alive-grants.

Arts Alive Project Grants are made possible with funds from the Decentralization Program (DEC), a re-grant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the NYS Legislature and administered by ArtsWestchester.