By Barb Van Atta
At a news conference today (March 16), the Broome County Arts Council (BCAC) awarded $232,815 in United Cultural Fund (UCF) grants to 22 local arts organizations, community non-profits and individual artists. UCF monies will help provide general operating support for seven major arts organizations in the community and will fund 15 specific projects ranging from classes to concerts to film festivals, said BCAC Executive Director Laura Knochen-Davis.
Major donors who invested in this year’s campaign include the Hoyt Foundation, Broome County Government, the Decker Foundation, the Gaffney Foundation, M&T Bank and IBM, as well as other local businesses and corporations and a host of individuals. Representatives of both the donor organizations and the recipients attended this morning’s announcement at the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Binghamton.
Investments in the arts pay a financial as well as a cultural dividend, according to Knochen-Davis and BCAC Board President Frederick R. Xlander, who made the grant announcements. Last year’s recipients collectively returned more than $4.6 million to Broome County’s economy, up $600,000 from 2014.
The following organizations received general operating support:
ART Mission & Theater $12,000
Binghamton Philharmonic $52,000
Cider Mill Playhouse $11,500
Endicott Performing Arts Center $20,000
Goodwill Theater $10,000
Roberson Museum & Science Center $56,000
Tri-Cities Opera $56,000
The following non-profit organizations and individuals received project grants:
• Binghamton Center for Writers $1,000 The Binghamton Poetry Project
• Binghamton Community Orchestra $1,000 STMTA Concerto Competition Winners Contest
• Binghamton Downtown Singers $1,000 Downtown Singers Spring Concert 2016
• Binghamton Youth Symphony $1,000 Annual Spring Concert
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Binghamton $1,000 Exploring Careers in Photography: After School Program for Underserved Youth
• Brian Murphy $900 Transient Visions: Festival of the Moving Image
• Deposit Performing Arts Center $1,000 Danceability – Tina Christina-Price and Rik Daniels
• Kopernik Society of Broome County $500 EXPOSURE: a screening of art films with astronomical images
• Madrigal Choir of Binghamton $900 “Tanzen und Singen: Music in Motion”
• Phelps Mansion Museum $1,000 Chamber Music Series at the Phelps
• Preservation Association of the Southern Tier $900 Everyone Has a Hometown
• SPARE Productions $600 SPARE Productions presents “Letter Writing”
• SRO Productions III $1,000 SRO Productions Presents: “Evita”
• Vestal Museum $1,000 Musical Memories Series
• Windsor Whip Works Art Center $1,000 Ceramic Sculpture & Pottery Workshop
For more information, call 607-723-4620, e-mail lkdavis@broomearts.org or visit BroomeArts.org.