Thursday, August 11, 2022

Dance/NYC Announces Coronavirus Dance Relief Fund: New York State Edition Grantees

By Dance/NYC

August 11, 2022

Dance/NYC Announces Coronavirus Dance Relief Fund: New York State Edition Grantees

New York, NY (For Immediate Release) - Dance/NYC is pleased to announce the grantees of the Coronavirus Dance Relief Fund: New York State Edition, including 100 individual dance makers and 65 dance making organizations/groups, made possible by the generous support of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).

This funding initiative continues Dance/NYC’s existing relief efforts by mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on individual dance makers and small-budget dance making organizations and groups based in New York State with budgets between $10,000 and $250,000. The Fund offers unrestricted relief to those that incurred financial losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, prioritizing individuals, organizations and groups living outside of the New York City metropolitan area as well as communities most impacted by COVID-19 including: low-income, African, Latina/o/x, Asian, Arab, and Native American (ALAANA), disabled, immigrant, elderly, immunosuppressed, and women-identifying, transgender, gender nonconforming and/or non-binary artists; artists that are parents, guardians, or primary care providers; and artists living in zip codes disproportionately affected by COVID-19 deaths and cases.

“As the dance sector continues to experience the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are proud to renew our support of dance making individuals and organizations,” said Alejandra Duque Cifuentes, Executive Director of Dance/NYC. “We are excited that with this iteration of the Coronavirus Dance Relief Fund, we are able to extend our reach to include all of New York State, thanks to our partnership with the New York State Council on the Arts and a collective of statewide arts councils and community organizers.”

“Congratulations to all the grantees across New York State,” said Mara Manus, Executive Director of NYSCA. “We applaud the dedication and perseverance of dancers and dance organizations, who kept their art alive for us all over the past two years. This support to artists and artistic communities contributes to the recovery of the arts and economy of New York State.”

The grantees of Tier I represent 100 individual dance makers from thirty-five (35) counties in New York State. Grantees are majority ALAANA (51%), majority women-identifying, gender nonconforming/nonbinary/genderqueer, and/or transgender, and include LGBTQIA+ (47%), immigrants (28%), and disabled dance makers (13%). A majority of grantees have annual household incomes of less than $50,000 (87%). Each grantee of Tier I received a one-time award of $1,500. Given the needs-based nature of this grant, the names of individual recipients will not be made public.

The 65 recipients of the Coronavirus Dance Relief Fund: New York State Edition Tier II for dance making organizations/groups will each receive one-time awards of $2,500-$5,000. They are:

The 65 grantees include representatives from fourteen (14) counties in New York State: Albany (3), The Bronx (2), Columbia (1), Erie (1), Kings (13), Monroe (5), Nassau (3), New York (26), Putnam (1), Queens (5), Schoharie (1), Suffolk (2), and Westchester (1). Grantees are majority ALAANA-led (66%), and include fifty-six (86%) companies with women-identifying, gender nonconforming/nonbinary/genderqueer and/or transgender leadership, eight (12%) with disabled leadership, twenty-five (38%) with LGBTQIA+ leadership, and twenty-eight (43%) with immigrant leadership. There are twenty (31%) fiscally sponsored dance projects among the grantees. A majority of the grantees have an annual expense budget of under $100,000 (71%).

Grantees of both tiers were selected by separate review panels composed of representatives from the dance field across New York State. Grantees were selected from an applicant pool of over 374 individual dance makers and 100 dance making organizations/groups in response to an open call. Key evaluation criteria comprised of a demonstration of the impacts of COVID-19 on their dance making activities, including: a decrease or change in the volume of artistic work; the proportion of income lost in relation to previous income years as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak and/or related government mandated cancellation of activities; and the ability/inability to access other forms of relief, including insurance claims or unemployment benefits.

Additional information on grant requirements and eligibility can be found on our website at Dance.NYC.

About Dance/NYC
Dance/NYC’s mission is to promote the knowledge, appreciation, practice, and performance of dance in the metropolitan New York City area. It embeds values of justice, equity, and inclusion into all aspects of the organization.

About New York State Council on the Arts
The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) is dedicated to preserving and expanding the rich and diverse cultural resources that are and will become the heritage of New York’s citizens.

NYSCA upholds the right of all New Yorkers to experience the vital contributions the arts make to their communities, education, economic development and quality of life. Through their core grantmaking activity, NYSCA awards organizations statewide through direct grants and regrants across 15 programs; the Regional Economic Development Council initiative. NYSCA funding supports the visual, literary, media and performing arts and includes dedicated support for arts education and underserved communities. NYSCA further advances New York's creative culture by hosting convenings with leaders in the field and providing organizational and professional development opportunities and informational resources.

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