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Gianaris secures close to $650,000 in funding for western Queens arts programs

Materials for the Arts, one of the organizations receiving grant funding. (Photo: nyc.gov)

Dec. 20, 2023 By Czarinna Andres

State Sen. Michael Gianaris announced Tuesday that more than $649,000 in state funding will be distributed among multiple organizations in western Queens for arts programs.

The funding, which comes via the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), is being awarded to 22 organizations.

Gianaris, who represents western Queens, emphasized the critical role that the arts play across the state as well as in the World’s Borough.

“The arts are the soul of western Queens, and supporting this community is critical to our economic vitality,” Gianaris said in a statement. “I am pleased that so many groups are receiving support and that the New York State Council on the Arts is using the legislature’s investment in our own community.”

The grants allocated by NYSCA will bolster a diverse range of cultural initiatives, with grant allocations ranging from $10,000 to $49,500 per project.

The list of organizations and award recipients include the American Folk Art Museum, Dance Entropy Inc., Emit Theatre Inc, FGP NYC, INC, Friends of Materials for the Arts, Jon Lehrer Dance Inc., Mare Nostrum Elements, Inc., Noor Theatre, OYE GROUP INC, Parthenia, Inc., THALIA SPANISH THEATRE INC, The Flux Factory, ThingNY, TOPAZ ARTS, Inc., Wet Ink Music Productions, Inc. and Yarn Wire, Inc.

Gianaris has been a longtime advocate for the arts and culture across New York, annually securing significant funding for the Council on the Arts in the state budget, with a particular focus on ensuring substantial allocations benefit Queens.

In the past year, Gianaris secured over $5 million in funding for the Museum of the Moving Image, which is being used for the creation of educational tools at the museum’s exhibition space and providing greater public access to the museum’s Digital Innovation Lab for Media and Games

For more information on NYSCA and its initiatives, visit http://www.arts.ny.gov. For a full list of the grant projects click here.