The Dutchess County Arts Council (DCAC) awarded a total of $47,000 in decentralization project grants to 47 Ulster and Dutchess county arts organizations on Friday, March 7.
Project grant funds are available through the DCAC to support the arts and cultural activities of non-profit groups and organizations in Dutchess and Ulster counties. These include activities benefiting the general public in theater, dance, music, film, video, literature, visual arts, historical and cultural activities, and the use of libraries and museums as venues for the arts, according to the Arts Council. Project grant recipients serve all ages and ethnically diverse populations from all geographic areas of both counties.
The funds (often referred to as “dec” or decentralization grants) come from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) Decentralization Program for Dutchess and Ulster counties.
The Arts Council has administered Dutchess County Project Grants since 1978 and the Ulster County Decentralization program since 1988. In 2008, the Dutchess County Arts Council received 32 applications in Ulster County (requesting a total of $88,645) and 37 applications in Dutchess County (requesting a total of $131,070). For 2008, the DCAC board of directors approved a total of $47,000 in grants. In Ulster County, 22 projects were funded; in Dutchess County, 25 projects received grants.
At the awards ceremony, held at the Rural Ulster Preservation Company offices on Fair Street in Kingston, DCAC President Benjamin Krevolin called the annual event his favorite. “It’s artists talking to artists and there’s great camaraderie and there’s gallows humor and it’s a real fun evening,” he said, adding that the event offers representatives from arts organizations from Ulster and Dutchess counties a unique opportunity to gather in one place.
Krevolin encouraged the artists in attendance to lobby for increased arts funding. “If you want public funding for the arts you have to ask for it. That’s how it happens. You can’t complain that the arts aren’t getting enough funding from the government if you’re not letting people know that it’s needed. And we can ask for it on behalf of you, but let me tell you it’s a lot better when you guys ask directly,” he said.