Governor announces historic $140 million in arts and culture grant funding

Photo by Dave Warner – Sophia Angelakis poses with one of her pieces of sculpture that was displayed at the Art Door Gallery for the June 20, 2019 art walk.

Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that record grant funding is now available through the New York State Council on the Arts. The agency’s first five grant opportunities for Fiscal Year 2023 are now open for artists and arts and culture organizations across New York. The 2023 State Budget appropriation includes $50 million in recovery funds and $50 million in capital projects support, in addition to the agency’s base grant-making budget of $40 million.

“New York’s arts sector is integral to our state’s identity, character, and economic well-being,” Governor Hochul said. “These historic NYSCA grants will help strengthen nonprofits, spark the creative work of artists in all 62 counties, and revitalize the industry. As we welcome a new era for New York, we must continue to invest in the artists and cultural institutions across New York that makes our state the art capital of the world.”

The following NYSCA FY 2023 Grant Opportunities are now open:

• Support for Organizations: Provides flexible general operating and programming funding for non-profit organizations. This funding can also reach fiscally sponsored unincorporated organizations across the state.
• Support for Artists: Funds creative commissions to individual artists across the state. Applicants must apply through a fiscal sponsor. NYSCA embraces the rich diversity of artistry across New York, and applicants from all artistic practices and disciplines are encouraged to apply.
• Support for Special Opportunities: Supports opportunities that make space, time, and learning more accessible for artists and their creative endeavors. The opportunities span creative performance residencies, subsidized rehearsal spaces for all performing art forms, and folk arts apprenticeships.
• Regrowth and Capacity Enhancement: Provides organizations with flexible funds to redevelop their ability to serve their audiences with consideration to the impacts of COVID-19. Funds may support a wide breadth of needs, such as: provide payment to artists; support for staffing, support programmatic costs; advance audience development and assist with necessary health and safety expenses.
• Support for Partnerships: Supports regrant and partner organizations across all 62 counties while identifying new opportunities to ensure the greater reach of NYSCA funding and greater access for new applicants. Partnerships cover a range of services.

Additionally, NYSCA will support $50 million in Capital Projects Grants as part of its FY 2023 opportunities. This investment marks the largest single year commitment of capital funding for the arts in NYSCA’s history. Guidelines and the application portal for NYSCA’s Capital grants will be available this fall.

Executive Director of the New York State Council on the Arts Mara Manus said, “New York State is powered by thousands of arts workers and arts and culture organizations that drive our state’s economy and are critical to the health of all who call New York home. We are immensely grateful for Governor Hochul and the State Legislature’s responsive and unprecedented investment of $140 million for NYSCA this year – recognizing the expansive impact of the arts across our great state. NYSCA is ready to meet this historic moment by continuing to offer a streamlined grantmaking process, flexible funding solutions, and welcoming applicants from every artistic area.”

Last year, NYSCA overhauled its longtime funding structure to pave the way for a more expansive and inclusive process, prioritizing applications from small organizations and applicants that serve historically underrepresented communities. Changes included consolidating and streamlining funding categories, implementing a new, more accessible application portal, and instituting flexible funding solutions.

Currently, NYSCA supports 1,525 organizations through over 3,300 grants spanning all 10 regions of New York. FY 2023 opportunity guidelines and the NYSCA Application Manual are now available on the NYSCA Website.

About the New York State Council on the Arts
The Council on the Arts preserves and advances the arts and culture that make New York State an exceptional place to live, work, and visit. The Council upholds the right of all New Yorkers to experience the vital contributions the arts make to our communities, education, economic development, and quality of life. Through its core grant-making activity, the Council on the Arts awarded more than $100 million in FY 2022. NYSCA’s statewide grants program supports the visual, literary, media, and performing arts and includes dedicated support for arts education and underserved communities.

The Council on the Arts further advances New York’s creative culture by convening leaders in the field and providing organizational and professional development opportunities and informational resources. Created by Governor Nelson Rockefeller in 1960 and continued with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, the Council is an agency that is part of the Executive Branch. For more information on NYSCA, please visit http://www.arts.ny.gov, and follow NYSCA’s Facebook page, Twitter @NYSCArts, and Instagram @NYSCouncilontheArts.