Grants to local groups, artists

Wayne County Council for the Arts has honored 19 non-profit organizations and two artists at a Decentralization Grant Awards Ceremony. The ceremony was held last month before a standing-room-only crowd at the Arts Council gallery in Lyons.

"Giving out the Decentralization Grant certificates is always one of our most pleasant duties," said Decentralization Coordinator Heidi Lux Santelli. "This year, we were fortunate to have $20,300 from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) to re-distribute for arts and cultural programming in Wayne County, as well as two new $2,500 Individual Artist Grants!"

County residents can look forward to these programs presented with funding assistance from Decentralization:

Boy Scouts of America Pack 162 (Clyde) - $1,450 to for a Native American Cultural Festival featuring the Thunder Lizards and the Iroquois Dancers;

Canaltown Chorale - $1,555 to for their 19th Annual Concert Season;

Candy Apple Children's Center (Newark) - $700 to for their Spring Arts Festival featuring music by GlenRose, storyteller Mary DeMarsh, paper making with Shelly DeRenzo and puppetry;

Community Action in Self Help (CASH) (Lyons) - $400 to for a harp concert by Mary Anderson Buchanan;

Fairville Presbyterian Church - $400 for a music and community arts celebration featuring the musical group God's Country;

Finger Lakes Symphony Orchestra (Newark) - $1,555 to fund a special educational concert;

First Presbyterian Church of Lyons - $1,520 for a Lenten Concert Series which includes Dan Duggan, The Linkins, Buell & Compton, Wadsworth & Hermann, Drew Frech, Living Winds, and the Fitzhugh Quartet;

Interchurch Council of Lyons - $1,250 for a performance by Canaltown Choral, two plays by the Media Group, and a performance by the Sunlight Players;

Kelley School PTA (Newark) - $525 for a workshop and dance performance;

Lyons Community Center - $2,100 for workshops and performances by Steel Drum Paradise and Song Writer Nancy Bryan;

Macedon Public Library - $925 for A Summer Celebration of the Arts with Jay Stetzer, Bill Mehls, Scott Gibala-Broxholm and Movida;

Ontario Public Library - $800 for Mask, Mime and Musical Theatre including The Wondermakers, Mime Internationale, and Bells & Motley;

Ontario-Walworth Presenters - $1,075 for an evening concert with the trombone choir Bionic Bones;

Palmyra Kings Daughter's Library - $840 for a Summer Festival including performances by Jim McCarthy, Andrea Whitcomb, Peter Scahill, Rubin Venoit, Musical Marionettes, and Doug Rougeaux;

Park Presbyterian Church (Newark) - $725 for their 1999 Concert Series with Saint Peter's Community Choir, Common Ground, and Classical Brass;

Seaway Studios: Art & Cultural Center (Wolcott) - $750 for Wolcott Park Presentations by Nancy Kelly, Dan Duggan, and Tom Sieling;

Sodus Bay Historical Society (Sodus Point) - $1,000 for their Summer Light House Concert Series;

Walworth Recreation Dept. - $2,030 to for their combined concert series with the Macedon Recreation Dept. including performances by Todd East & Paul Strowe, Almetha Whitis & Co, and the RG&E Big Band;

Walworth-Seely Library - $700 for Live at the Library featuring Vincent and Deb Poplasky.

Individual Artist Grants were awarded to Carol Caffrey-Salce (Pultneyville) and Helen Bishop Santelli (Lyons). Caffrey-Salce will visually document her community of historic Pultneyville, culminating in an art exhibit in her own town, using information from local historian Chester Peters. Santelli plans to produce a series of paintings based on her exploration of the Erie Canal Path, culminating in an art exhibit at the Wayne County Nursing Home.

Open to professional artists working in the disciplines of visual, literary, and performing arts, who also incorporate the community into their work, these grants may be used to purchase materials needed to complete a project, or may simply be used as a stipend to allow the artist uninterrupted time to work.

Now in its 22nd year, the Decentralization Program allows individual counties to make their own decisions concerning arts in their region by making funds available to local not-for-profit organizations and units of local government for arts and cultural programming for the coming year. Up to $5,000 may be requested each year.

Anyone interested in the Decentralization Program or Individual Artist Grants is urged to contact Council for the Arts at 946-5078. The application cycle begins again in the summer.

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