$430,000 Dispersed to Arts Organizations in WNY

Contributing to the $430,000 raised in this effort are: Baird Foundation, Louis P. Ciminelli Family Foundation, Davis Family Foundation, the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, Josephine Goodyear Foundation, The Patrick P. Lee Foundation, M&T Bank, The John R. Oishei Foundation, The Margaret L. Wendt Foundation, and the Western New York Foundation.

The funds raised will be dispersed to 36 organizations in Erie County, selected in large part based on recommendations from the Greater Buffalo Cultural Alliance (GBCA). The GBCA is an arts advocacy group created by and for arts and cultural organizations in WNY. Launched in 2010, it is governed by a cross-section of executive directors from cultural institutions in our region.

“We are greatly appreciative of the GBCA’s leadership in this effort and their funding recommendations were very helpful to the Fund for the Arts’ allocation process,” said Clotilde Perez-Bode Dedecker, President and CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo “Their suggestions were given great weight in the FFA’s final funding decisions.”

A full list of the organizations that will receive funding from this pool is available below. The funding is expected to be released in April.

In addition to this initiative which provides general operating support to organizations in Erie County for 2011, the Fund for the Arts continues to fund efforts that develop long-term solutions for strengthening arts and culture across all eight counties. These include:

• A pilot program launched in 2009 to support mid-sized cultural organizations by helping them to strengthen their internal governance, administrative and development activities. Currently 17 organizations are taking part in this work which also attracted national support from the Kresge Foundation.
• An effort to assess the needs of regional artists and arts organizations and develop a structure and business plan to address these priority needs. Led by the GBCA and Advancing Arts and Culture Buffalo Niagara (an organization focused on expanding the audience for regional arts and developing capacity) this effort also has funding support from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).

The $430,000 raised in this effort by the Fund for the Arts will be complemented with funds raised by Give for Greatness, a new community-wide campaign in partnership with M&T Bank to provide ongoing stability in funding to the arts and cultural community. This initiative will provide additional immediate relief to the 36 organizations funded through the Fund for the Arts, and aims to raise additional dollars that will be distributed through a separate application process administered by the Give for Greatness team (apart from the FFA). Details of that process will be announced in March when the campaign launches and will be available at www.GiveForGreatness.org.

Organizations that will receive funding from the $430,000 pool are:

• African American Cultural Center of Buffalo, Inc.
• Alleyway Theatre Inc.
• American Legion Band of Tonawandas
• Ballet Artists of WNY (Neglia)
• Bflo Olmsted Parks Conservancy
• Bflo & Erie Co Botanical Gardens
• Big Orbit Gallery
• Buffalo Arts Studio
• Buffalo Inner City Ballet
• Buffalo Naval Park
• Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus
• CEPA
• Community Music School Buffalo
• El Museo Gallery
• Explore and More
• Folkloric Dance
• Hallwalls, Inc.
• Irish Classical Theatre
• Just Buffalo Literary Center
• Kavinoky Theatre
• Lancaster NY Opera House
• Locust St. Neighborhood Art
• Music Is Art
• MusicalFare Theatre
• New Phoenix Theatre
• Pierce Arrow Museum
• Polish Arts Club of Buffalo
• Road Less Traveled Productions
• Roycroft Campus Corp.
• Shakespeare in Delaware Park
• Springville Center Arts
• Squeaky Wheel
• Theatre of Youth Company
• Ujima Company, Inc.
• WNY Artists Group
• Young Audiences WNY