Leanne Tintori Wells, Senior Program Officer, LTWells@nysca.org
Arian Blanco, Program Officer, ABlanco@nysca.org

Application in this category is made only at the invitation of the Council and grants are generally awarded on a multi-year basis.

The purpose of Decentralization, DEC, is to foster the continuing development of local cultural resources responsive to community needs. These needs are articulated by the DEC site in a Community Cultural Plan. DEC ensures access to arts and culture in each of the 62 counties of New York State, including areas that are geographically isolated, economically disadvantaged and ethnically diverse. The basic principle of DEC regrant funding is local decision-making using a peer panel grant evaluation process.

DEC regrant sites are a statewide network of non-profit organizations which serve cultural organizations and artists locally and regionally. In addition to administering the regrant program, DEC sites also provide technical and organizational development assistance. The combination of regranting and providing capacity building services is key to successful community cultural development.

DEC regrant programs must offer support in these areas:

• Community Arts grants constitute the majority of DEC regrant activity. These grants provide support for arts and cultural projects to community-based organizations, groups, collectives or artists. Individual artists may apply for a community-based project in partnership with a local non-profit organization. DEC support enables emerging artists and organizations to grow professionally and to enhance the cultural vibrancy in communities and neighborhoods where they live and operate. DEC site administration is governed by a set of procedures outlined in a Procedures Manual issued by NYSCA and available at every DEC site.

  Note: Entities currently receiving direct NYSCA funding are not eligible for a DEC Community Arts regrants in the same year.

• Arts Education grants support the role that local cultural organizations and/or individual artists play in engaging K-12 public school students in rich artistic learning experiences. AE funds are designed to support new or first time arts education projects in K-12 school settings. Regrant funds are directed to cultural organizations and/or artists work in partnership with public schools. Regrant projects must focus on the exploration of art and the artistic process. Projects must take place in schools and center on the development and implementation of sequential, skills-based study that incorporates one or more art forms and includes a minimum of 3 hands-on learning sessions with students. AE regrants will fund a maximum of 50% of the project's total cash expenses and should include costs for appropriate project evaluation and documentation. AE regrant funds must not replace, or appear to replace, the role of certified arts teachers in schools.

  Arts Education grants must constitute a minimum of 10% but no more than 20% of the total DEC regrant budget.

  Note: School partners may not apply directly for DEC Community Arts Education regrant funding.

  Note: Projects with school partners involved in any AE projects currently receiving direct NYSCA funding are not eligible for a DEC Community Arts Education regrant in the same year.

DEC regrants may offer commissioning support to individual artists:

• Individual Artists Commissions allow DEC sites to offer a maximum of four grants of $2,500 each to local artists to create work within a community setting. Funds are intended to support the creation of new work that engages the community in some way through the artists’ creative process. This regrant opportunity is designed to increase support for local artist-initiated activity and to highlight the role of artists as important, contributing members of the community. These grants are not artist fellowships and are intended to support creative (not interpretive) artists interested in working within a community setting.

  DEC sites administering this regrant opportunity must be prepared and willing to work with artists to help facilitate the execution of the project.

The following information outlines the procedures for applying to serve as a DEC regrant site.

Note: Local arts organizations and artists interested in applying for a DEC regrant must contact the Decentralization site in their area directly for guidelines and application deadlines.

NYSCA believes in honoring aesthetic and artistic excellence that reflects creative diversity without cultural boundaries and an evaluation process that embraces the widest spectrum of cultural expression offered to the public, in a broad array of settings and contexts -- from classrooms and community centers, to parks and open spaces, to more traditional venues. NYSCA celebrates artistic pluralism and welcomes requests from organizations serving all of the communities that make up New York State. These include the physically challenged, immigrants and other communities with special needs.