Helen Cash Jackson, Director (212) 741-7148
Barbara Ho, Associate (212) 741-7147

The Special Arts Services Program helps to ensure the quality, viability, and productivity of artists and institutions of color, and the traditions of other specific cultures. This Program celebrates the artistic pluralism of the state by supporting professional arts activities within and serving African/Caribbean, Latino/Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, Native American/Indian communities, as well as activities that perpetuate other distinct ethnic traditions.

The Program also welcomes requests from organizations serving the disabled community by offering professionally-directed training in an arts discipline with the goal of more advanced study or career development.

The Program supports both established and emerging community-based organizations that demonstrate potential for artistic growth. The Program welcomes projects from new immigrant communities around the state. In addition, the Program encourages collaborations and innovative projects. The Program supports performing arts, visual arts, media organizations, and multi-arts centers.

Organizations should have appropriate representation at the staff and board level reflecting the communities served. Organizations whose projects are directed toward general audiences or organizations in which artists do not represent those communities previously mentioned are not eligible for support in this Program and should consult the guidelines of other Council Programs.

First-time applicants are strongly advised to consult with Program staff well before the March registration deadline.

Artistic Evaluation

The Council must be able to evaluate the applicant's artistic quality on an ongoing basis. In addition to your written application, a NYSCA representative may attend and evaluate your events. All grant requests in this Program require an artistic audit.

Artistic audits are conducted by a Council consultant who is expert in the particular field and whose report of the event becomes part of the evaluation process.

To schedule an artistic audit, you must inform the Program of your events in writing at least four weeks in advance. When requesting an artistic audit, please include name of the event, date/time, location, contact person, phone, email, etc. It is recommended that you follow up by email or phone to make sure that your request has been received.

For returning applicants, check your homepage to make sure that you have been audited by the SAS program within the last 12 months.

Eligibility for New Applicants

New applicants to a Council program and those applicants returning after an absence of more than two years are required to have two audits before the application deadline to be eligible for funding.

However, it is advantageous for new applicants to have at least one artistic audit before the March registration deadline. Toward that end, new applicants are strongly advised to consult with the appropriate Council program staff well before that date. This consultation provides a valuable interaction between staff and applicant which will help guide you in developing your NYSCA application. We encourage advance planning to ensure that we are able to respond appropriately to your artistic audit request.

Evaluative Criteria

Grant requests in this Program are evaluated in accordance with the relevant agency-wide criteria.