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ASI Awards nearly $100,000 to local artists & nonprofits, including Artpark, Aquarium of Niagara

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Fri, May 8th 2020 12:25 pm

Arts Services Initiative of Western New York Inc. has awarded $97,970 in emergency grants to 60 local artists and nonprofit arts and cultural organizations affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Less than one week after opening applications, this event marks the first round of funding through ASI’s WNY Arts Emergency Relief Fund, a granting program designed to assist Western New York’s creative community by alleviating its economic struggles related to the pandemic.

Grants were awarded to artists and organizations based in five counties in Western New York (Erie, Niagara, Allegany, Chautauqua and Cattaraugus). In addition to the 23 individual artists, teaching artists, and creative workers who received funding, grants were awarded to the following nonprofit arts and cultural organizations: 

  • Alleyway Theatre Inc.
  • Aquarium of Niagara
  • Artpark & Company Inc.
  • Buffalo and Brandy Inc.
  • Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens Society Inc. 
  • Buffalo Arts Studio
  • Buffalo Center for Arts and Technology
  • Buffalo Jazz Collective 
  • Buffalo Niagara Choirs Inc
  • Carousel Society of the Niagara Frontier
  • CEPA Gallery
  • Danceability Inc.
  • Explore & More A Children's Museum
  • Explore Buffalo
  • Graycliff Conservancy Inc. 
  • Harmonia Chamber Singers Inc.
  • Historic Palace Inc.
  • Historical Society of Dunkirk
  • Infinity Visual and Performing Arts Inc. 
  • Irish Classical Theatre Company
  • Locust Street Neighborhood Art Classes Inc.
  • MusicalFare Theatre
  • Neglia Ballet Artists
  • Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center
  • Pappy Martin Legacy Jazz Collective
  • Reg Lenna Center for the Arts Inc.
  • Road Less Traveled Productions
  • Roycroft Campus Corporation
  • Starring Buffalo
  • Stitch Buffalo Inc.
  • The Big Easy in Buffalo Inc.
  • The Fountain Arts Center
  • The Niagara Regional Theatre Guild
  • The Subversive Theatre Collective
  • Torn Space Theater
  • West Falls Center for the Arts
  • Western New York Book Arts Center

Applications are now 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.

“Our goal for this fund is simple: We want to ensure that our arts community makes it to the other side of this crisis,” ASI Executive Director Jen Swan-Kilpatrick said.

ASI’s WNY Arts Emergency Relief Fund is possible because of support from Fund for the Arts, 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.

As this crisis continues to unfold, funds will continue to be raised and distributed. To see a full list of funders or to join the effort, visit asiwny.org/wny-arts-emergency-relief-fund.

Arts Services Initiative (ASI) empowers the region's artists and arts organizations with connections to funding, learning opportunities, and community access to the arts. ASI is a resource hub for the Western New York arts and cultural sector.

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