CNY Arts, Inc.

Dear Friend of the Arts, 
Thank you to everyone who donated to our GoFundMe campaign to save the arts! Through your caring gifts, we have been able to provide direct financial assistance to individual artists and small arts organizations in our region through our first round of mini-grants! 

We have now moved into the second phase of our appeal, the CNY Arts COVID-19 Impact Fund, hosted by the Central New York Community Foundation, which will provide more financial assistance to more arts groups and artists in our Central New York region. To donate to this fund, or to find out more, please visit https://cnyarts.org/covid19artsimpactfund/

Working together, we can ensure our incredible arts , culture, and heritage community will be here to serve all of us tomorrow!  



Imagine: the music is gone, the stages are silent and empty, gallery walls are bare, restaurants and main streets are devoid of vibrancy. This could really happen!



Galleries, museums, concert halls, events, and many artistic venues across Central New York were the first to close down because of COVID-19 and will be last to reopen. Entire seasons and exhibitions and summer and fall festivals continue to be postponed and cancelled. 

Think about your favorite musicians, artists, local actors, photographers, teaching artists, small community arts groups, and many others struggling to stay afloat until we can safely gather again. 

Our friends and neighbors in creative fields are suffering tremendous financial losses. Their losses will be a loss for us all. This can’t continue. Many audience members will not come back until it is fully safe to do so.

The arts need your help now to survive.  Can you help with a donation to the COVID-19 Arts Impact Fund today?

The average small arts group in our six-county region of Central New York will be forced to close their doors by October without additional help.

The pandemic has given us a glimpse of what our cities, villages, schools, and towns could be like without our creative community.  Your help is needed to prevent these closures and job losses from becoming permanent. 

CNY Arts has been helping artists and arts groups in our region get the support they need to thrive since 1957. 100% of your gift to our COVID-19 Arts Impact Fund will be used for grantmaking to local artists and small arts and cultural groups in need and your donation is tax-deductible.

NOW IS THE TIME TO SAVE OUR ARTS COMMUNITY!

A minimum of 25% of all funds will be allocated to provide emergency aid to artists and organizations of color.

We know how much you love and appreciate the arts. Your donation will help artists and venues begin the process of safely reopening rather than shutting down. 

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT!

No Exodus was written and directed by Alethea Shirilan-Howlett, a Jamesville-Dewitt High School senior. The play was originally set to be performed by students in May. However, with schools closing for the remainder of the academic year due to COVID-19, their original plan became impossible.

The students did not give up! They continued to rehearse online via Zoom, and then decided to produce No Exodus virtually for the community and also  make it a fundraiser for the  CNY Arts Young Artist Scholarship Fund!

No Exodus is a multimedia performance which will be broadcast as a YouTube Premiere on Sunday, June 7th at 7:00 p.m. EST.

It features the talents of not only the cast, but an ensemble of student musicians and visual artists as well. The show itself examines our relationships to art, as well as the "personal and cultural stakes of holding onto and letting go of the past and the stories we tell about it. " 

View No Exodus videos  and watch the live performance on Sunday, July 12 at 9 pm EST:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYYbh8KEWEydb3Y-mz0vnzg  

The CNY Arts Young Artists Scholarship Fund provides financial assistance to middle school and high school aged students in Central New  York to further their education and experience in music, theater, dance, film, writing, and the visual arts.


CNY Arts, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency that provides support and assistance to individual artists and arts and cultural organizations through access to grants, capacity-building assistance, education and training, and promotional services. We serve the counties of Cortland, Herkimer, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga and Oswego. Our goal is to enhance a greater appreciation for the arts and cultural vibrancy of the region.