ASI awards additional $94,820 in relief to local artists & organizations

Arts Services Initiative of Western New York 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 brings the granted total from its 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. 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, ASI announced its first round of grants totaling $97,970 to 60 individual artists and nonprofit arts and cultural organizations. To see the first round of grantees, visit asiwny.org.

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,” said ASI Executive Director Jen Swan-Kilpatrick. “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 support from Fund for the Arts, a funder’s cooperative of public, private, family and corporate foundations that assesses the needs of the 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, visit asiwny.org/wny-arts-emergency-relief-fund.