$100,000 Awarded to Rochester Artists and Arts Organizations from ArtsBloom

Mayor Malik D. Evans announced that $100,000 has been awarded to local artists and arts organizations through ArtsBloom.

City officials say ArtsBloom is an initiative to fund arts education, performing arts and temporary art programming across Rochester. The awarded funds are granted as part of Rochester’s inaugural ‘Percent for the Arts’ program.

“ArtsBloom gives a platform for the City to support Rochester’s creative community and offer diverse arts programming to residents, a win-win for a city that is home to so many artists and art lovers,” Evans said. “We had more than 50 applicants, and the competition was intense. Congratulations to the awardees, we are fortunate to live in a city with such a wealth of talent.”

This round of ArtsBloom awards will fund six projects:

• The Avenue Blackbox Theatre: $20,000 to co-sponsor the theatre’s fifth production season with Monroe County;

• Borinquen Dance Theatre: $20,000 for performances and a Juneteenth celebration that will include a performance and dance workshop;

• Flower City Arts Center: $20,000 to develop a creative entrepreneurship focus for its youth program, “Expanding the Field”;

• “In This Moment: Revolution Reckoning Reparation”: $10,000 to produce issues of the chapbook co-created by Amanda Chestnut and Jeanne Strazzabosco;

• Revelation Rochester Art Center (Richmond Futch, Jr.): $10,000 for year-round arts classes for guests of the House of Mercy and St. Joseph’s House of Hospitality;

• Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra: $20,000 for the Orchestral Program for Urban Students, providing year-round music education and performance opportunities for Rochester youth.

Proposals for the next round of ArtsBloom funding will be solicited in Jan. 2024 for programming happening from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025.

For additional information on the city’s various arts and culture initiatives, including those dedicated to capital art (permanent physical installations), go to www.cityofrochester.gov/arts.