Foundations launch $175K challenge grant for CNY Arts fund
The exterior of Café 108 at Auburn Public Theater.
Thee central New York foundations are launching a combined $175,000 challenge grant to support CNY Arts’ efforts to raise $1 million for a fund that will provide emergency support to the arts sector in the region due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Central New York Community Foundation, Dorothy and Marshall M. Reisman Foundation and John Ben Snow Foundation will match every dollar raised up to $175,000. Donations for the first $75,000 must be postmarked by Dec. 31, or made online at cnycf.org/cnyartscovidimpact. Funds will be quickly turned around to support artists and organizations in need in Cayuga, Cortland, Herkimer, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga and Oswego counties, CNY Arts said in a news release.
“This crisis is having an extremely severe impact on the livelihood of our artists and organizations to the extent that, without support, many will permanently close their doors over the next few months,” said Stephen Butler, CNY Arts’ executive director. “This is an urgent need. For us to unlock the first $75,000, we need the entire region to rally around the arts and donate today so we can prevent these closures.”
Arts organizations in the Cayuga County area, such as The Rev Theatre Co. and Auburn Public Theater, have felt that impact as well.
“Arts organizations are typically living paycheck to paycheck. That’s why we rely on support,” The Rev Producing Artistic Director Brett Smock told The Citizen earlier this summer. “We can’t underestimate this moment in history and what it’ll do to us.”
