NY Foundation for the Arts and NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Launch Grant Program for New York City Artists

The New York Foundation for the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, with support from the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment have announced the launch of City Artist Corps Grants. City Artist Corps Grants, funded by the $25 million New York City Artist Corps recovery initiative announced by Mayor de Blasio and DCLA earlier this year, will distribute one-time $5,000 grants to more than 3,000 artists who will engage the public with arts activities across New York City's five boroughs beginning this July. The grants are intended to support NYC-based working artists who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

The program, which will take place over three award cycles, will support artists' practices and deploy them across the city to interact with the public in all disciplines and artforms. Types of eligible projects might include such activities as a live music, dance, theatre, literary reading performance; an in person art making workshop with community members; and a public screening of a film or other media work. For all cycles, artists will be screened for eligibility and grant recipients will be selected by lottery.

City Artist Corps Grants will be administered in partnership with re-grant and arts service organizations to support outreach, provide technical assistance for prospective applicants, and inform the grantee selection process in service of the city's diverse cultural communities. These partners include Asian American Arts Alliance, A.R.T./New York, Black Public Media, Brooklyn Arts Council, Bronx Council on the Arts, Bronx Documentary Center, Dance/NYC, Firelight Media, Flushing Town Hall, Indie Theater Fund, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), MakerSpace NYC, New Music USA, Poets & Writers, Queens Theatre, and Staten Island Arts.

Artists can use the grant to create new work or phase of a work, or restage preexisting creative activities across any discipline. Applicants must be 21 years of age or older, and have maintained residency in New York City since January 2020. Public creative engagements must have an arts or creative focus and be staged in front of a live audience in New York City free of charge. Artists with a disability and/or who are immunosuppressed for whom it is unsafe to engage in live in-person performance are welcome to apply for live digital creative engagement activities. It is strongly recommended that a portion of the grant be used to support artist fees, both for the applying artist and any other artist that are engaged to support the project.

"As New York City begins to re-open, we are seeing more and more people out on our streets, rediscovering what made them fall in love with our city in the first place. The talent lent to us by the City Artist Corps will further beautify this place we call home," said Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Vicki Been. "With murals designed by local artists spread throughout the five boroughs and performers permeating our streets with their talent, our city's recovery will be more palpable and personal than ever before."

"The City Artist Corps will put artists to work in communities across the city, giving them a source of much-needed relief and connecting New Yorkers to extraordinary cultural experiences," said Cultural Affairs Commissioner Gonzalo Casals. "Thanks to Mayor de Blasio's visionary recognition of the value of artists to our city, and in collaboration with our cultural partners, we encourage local artists to apply for these opportunities to be a part of our city's comeback."

"City Artist Corps Grants will activate our artists and put arts and culture at the center of our recovery efforts as we work to rebuild the creative capital of the world," said the Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, Anne del Castillo. "We are pleased to join with the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs to support this historic program that will help the resurgence of New York City's creative community."

The Cycle 1 application will open on Tuesday, June 8 at 10:00 AM EDT and will close on Tuesday, June 22 at 10:00 AM EDT. The Cycle 2 application will open on Tuesday, July 6 at 10:00 AM EDT and will close on Tuesday, July 20 at 10:00 AM EDT. The Cycle 3 application will open on Tuesday, July 27 at 10:00 AM EDT and close on Tuesday, August 10 at 10:00 AM EDT. Please visit NYFA's website for full details and eligibility requirements.

"NYFA is proud to partner with DCLA and MOME on City Artist Corps Grants, extending our efforts to create and support grants for artists who were impacted by the pandemic," said NYFA Executive Director Michael L. Royce. "This program will directly benefit more than 3,000 artists while also providing the public with opportunities to see and engage with art across New York. It's an extraordinary investment in independent artists, who make NYC the greatest cultural city in the world," he added.

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