Founded in 1977 by the New York State Legislature, the Decentralization Grant Program was developed to encourage greater participation by arts organizations and individuals in the State’s cultural programming by supporting artistic excellence and the creative freedom of artists, the rights of all New Yorkers to access the power of arts and culture, and the vital contribution the arts make to life in all New York communities.
Funds are awarded via a competitive grant process with local decision-making serving as the basic principle in supporting a wide range of community-based arts programs and events. The application process is easy; Schoharie, Columbia, and Greene County non-profits, citizen groups or individuals can apply for events taking place in their respective counties during 2018.
The first step in applying for FY18 is attendance at an informational meeting. Mandatory for all FY18 applicants, these informational meetings are an opportunity for previous Decentralization applicants to learn about the latest changes to the grant process while all applicants, previous and new, can learn from each other and from the questions they bring to the meeting. Applicants must attend a meeting in the county in which they are applying.
The informational meeting dates and locations for Schoharie County are as follows: July 18, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. at the Middleburgh Library located at 323 Main Street in Middleburgh, NY. August 19, 2017 at 11 a.m. at the Cobleskill Library, located at 110 Union Street in Cobleskill, NY. September 6, 2017 at 6 p.m. at the Sharon Springs Library located at 129 Main Street in Sharon Springs, NY.
Informational meeting dates and locations for Columbia and Greene Counties are as follows: July 15, 2017, at 11AM at the Greenville Public Library in Greenville, NY; July 21, 2017 at 7PM at the Hudson Library in Hudson, NY; July 24, 2017 at the Prattsville Art Center & Residency in Prattsville, NY; July 30, 2017 at 3:30PM at the Cairo Public Library in Cairo, NY; August 7, 2017 at 3PM at the Philmont Library in Philmont, NY; and August 15, 2017 at 7PM at the Doctorow Center for the Arts in Hunter, NY. More seminars in each county are still being planned – visit greenearts.org as the specific dates and locations will be announced shortly.
Please visit greenearts.org to view or print materials to assist you. Since only electronic applications will be utilized this year, a limited number of hard copies will be available at the meetings. One-on-one meetings as well as application draft review are available until September 14, 2017.
Applications for all grant types, Community Arts, Arts Education, and Individual Artist are due on September 30, 2017. The individual artist grant is not offered in Schoharie County. For additional information or to schedule an individual meeting, contact your grant coordinator: Schoharie Grant Coordinator, Renee Nied at schoharieartsgrants@gmail.com or 518-788-7265, or Columbia and Greene Grant Coordinator, Margaret Uhalde at margaret@greenearts.org or 518-943-3400.