For some time now we have been trying to increase the funding available for small emerging arts groups through New York State Council for the Arts (NYSCA)’s Decentralization (DEC) program (known in Westchester as Arts Alive) – not just in Westchester but throughout the state. And in fact, working with ArtsNYS, a statewide coalition, we […]
In 1984, a gal I knew from Queens, New York, where I grew up, became the first woman to be nominated and run for Vice President of the United States of America. What an honor it was knowing Gerry Ferraro. Thirty-two years later, I watched TV as a neighbor of mine in Chappaqua was nominated […]
In many ways, it’s been all about the people – five decades of forward-thinking arts advocates, civic and business leaders, arts patrons, individual artists, volunteers and arts professionals – coming together to create a one-of-a-kind organization: ArtsWestchester. It began as a conversation among volunteers in a living room in 1965. Now it is a nationally recognized private arts council, the […]
It was a rainy day in Albany, but the mood was upbeat as a group of arts advocates made their way to legislative offices. The mission was a $4 million lift for the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). A contingent from Westchester, including Dominick Balletta from the Jacob Burns Film Center; Eileen […]
“Music is better than medicine.” That’s what 11 year old Alma told Westchester legislators. Alma went to Albany with Sister Beth Dowd and ten other youngsters of Songcatchers on Valentine’s Day to deliver some love songs and to ask for a boost in arts funding. Songcatchers is an organization that works out of St. Gabriel’s […]
Ariel Plantz thinks of herself as a “community artist”…a creative brand I hadn’t heard of before. A community artist is different than, say, a community organizer. We all know he became President. A community artist, if he or she is lucky, may land an exhibition at a museum or alternatively get another gig and then […]
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