Queens Arts Fund For Local Artists & Art Organization Nearly Doubles For 2019 With Support From The City

Queens Council on the Arts (QCA) is pleased to announce that the Queens Arts Fund (QAF) will distribute $527,600 in regrants to individual artists and nonprofit organizations - almost twice as much as was awarded in 2018. Applications for 2019 QAF grants may be submitted online until Thursday, October 25, 2018.

The increase in available funds for local artists and arts organizations is due in large part to significant additional support from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), whose funding for QCA's artist grants increased by $240K over last year's total. Thanks to support from the Mayor and City Council, DCLA's funding for the Queens Arts Fund has grown by 4x since the start of the de Blasio Administration. Support for local artists and creators is a key recommendation in the CreateNYC cultural plan.

"We are excited to have this significant increase in funding to further grow the Queens arts community," said QCA Executive Director Hoong Yee Krakauer. "Being the most diverse borough in the world, a program like the Queens Arts Fund puts us in an amazing position to support emerging artists and organizations that provide invaluable arts and cultural projects to the Queens community as a whole."

"I spent 24 years working in Queens cultural institutions, so I have witnessed firsthand the essential roles local artists and arts organizations play in the borough's thriving communities," said Cultural Affairs Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl. "In CreateNYC, the City committed to increasing support for artists and community-based groups as a way to help them continue to flourish in all five boroughs. In collaboration with City Council, particularly Council Member Van Bramer, we've made significant progress on this commitment by making a substantial investment in the cultural life of Queens and communities across the city."

"As the Chair of the Committee on Cultural Affairs and Libraries, I am proud to have secured a $20 million funding increase for the DCLA in this year's budget and I fought for this funding to directly benefit the Queens Council on the Arts," said Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer. "The Queens Arts Fund empowers artists and organizations with the grants needed to create diverse art projects and cultural programming throughout the Queens community. I am excited to see all of the work that this new round of grants will bring to our borough."

"The Queens Council on the Arts has excelled in achieving its mission to foster and develop the arts in Queens and to support individual artists and arts organizations in our borough," said Queens Borough President Melinda Katz. "This increase in funding from the Department of Cultural Affairs will enable the Council to provide even greater support to the artists and arts organizations that are the mainstay of our borough's vibrant creative community. The Department and the Council deserve to be commended for their great work in supporting the many emerging artists of Queens."

QAF offers grants to Queens-based individual artists, collectives, and nonprofit organizations offering distinctive arts and cultural programming that directly serves the community of Queens.

For Queens-based nonprofit organizations, QAF offers two grant opportunities. The Arts Access Grant (funded by DCLA) and the Community Arts Grant (funded by NYSCA) each range from $1,000-$5,000. These project-based grants support nonprofit organizations and artist collectives partnering with Queens community organizations to create cultural projects and arts activities that enhance the vibrancy in Queens communities and neighborhoods.

For artists, QAF offers the New Work Grant (funded by DCLA), which supports individual artists of all artistic disciplines who live or have a studio in Queens for the creation of new work. New Work Grants are $3,000, and do not require fiscal sponsorship.

Funds cover costs for eligible projects such as:

• Projects with a public component that benefit Queens communities
• Arts activities taking place within Queens in the 2019 calendar year
• Individual artists' costs needed for the execution of a cultural project (direct administration costs, marketing and publicity costs, venue rentals as well as supplies and materials)

Grant applications are now open and the deadline to apply online is Thursday, October 25, 2018.

Since 1978, QCA has been funding cultural activities across the borough keeping Queens neighborhoods rich with cultural vibrancy. In 2018, QCA awarded $329,000 in grants to 56 individual artists and 88 organizations for the creation of arts and cultural programming for the borough of Queens.

If you have any questions, please contact Grants and Residencies Manager Dan Bamba at dbamba@queenscouncilarts.org or 347-505-3017

For more information, please visit https://www.queenscouncilarts.org/qaf/

The Queens Art Fund is made possible in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Queens Council on the Arts is the borough-wide arts council of Queens. The mission of the Queens Council on the Arts is to foster and develop the arts in Queens County and to support individual artists and arts organizations in presenting their cultural diversity for the benefit of the community. QCA thanks the partnering venues for graciously providing use of their meeting spaces for the info sessions. For more information visit: https://www.queenscouncilarts.org/