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Grants of $2,500 to New York City Artists for Community Arts and Cultural Projects

For those who are looking for a way to fund their programs in New York for community development, these grants of $2,500 to New York City artists for community arts and cultural projects that engage local residents in eligible regions come in handy. First-time applicants are required to attend a seminar. Funding is intended to support new work that engages the community and promotes cultural awareness along Staten Island’s North Shore waterfront.

Grant Overview

The Future Culture Creative Placemaking Grants are meant to support Staten Island artists creating new work in a community setting that connects places and people using arts and culture on Staten Island’s North Shore. An essential element of this funding is community engagement. The project must engage a segment of the community through a public program and/or the inclusion of community involvement in the development and creative process of the project.

Projects must connect to at least ONE of the Recommendations established by Future Culture: Connecting Staten Island’s Waterfront, a joint initiative created in 2016 by Design Trust for Public Space and Staten Island Arts. The project aims to shape and communicate a vision for culture along Staten Island’s rapidly developing North Shore waterfront that:

  • Supports and promotes unique cultural communities
  • Develops art and cultural activities that connect places and people
  • Strengthens the relationship between the cultural sector and owners and stewards of property

Through Future Culture, Staten Islanders have articulated a vision for how new development can build on the area’s rich culture to foster a vibrant and connected waterfront. The resulting Recommendations (published in March 2017) are meant to be utilized by the community as a resource to challenge public and private stakeholders to devise creative solutions to community challenges.

All art and artistic cultural disciplines – music, dance, digital/new media, film/video/animation, folk arts, interdisciplinary events/festivals, public art, theatre, performing, and visual arts – are considered. Preference will be given to the under-resourced disciplines for 2023: Folk Arts, Humanities, New Media, Painting, Photography, and Public Art.

Staten Island artists may apply.

What is not eligible:

– Organizations or Individuals receiving direct or discretionary funds from the New York State Council on the Arts in the 2023 fiscal year.
– Programs that are essentially religious, recreational, rehabilitative, or therapeutic.
– Universities, colleges, primary and secondary schools, school affiliates or components, in-school activities or programs that exclusively serve a student audience with no public component.
– Any type of curriculum-based and instruction-based arts education programs taking place in K-12 classrooms.
– Programs/activities that exclusively serve a select audience with no public component.
– Operating expenses of privately-owned facilities (homes and studios).
– Capital improvements, equipment purchases*, fundraising events, prizes, entertainment, reception or food expenses, any non-arts related expenses.
– Applicants who fail to complete previous SI Arts grant projects and/or fail to complete final reporting. (2020 grantees are exempt)

*Virtual project exemption – equipment, software, subscriptions, and training needed to produce a virtual project. Individual items may not exceed $1,000. Examples: cameras, lighting equipment, subscriptions associated with virtual programming, and training to utilize these tools.