Providing grants, programs, and services to the artists and audiences of Tompkins County for 30 years

Latest News

 

Read our latest ArtsLetter (from 6/23/26)  

Its full of news, opportunities, events and more here!

Special thanks to our ArtsLetter sponsor, Visions Federal Credit Union

 

posted July 15, 2026

Announcing Awardees of Arts & Clean Energy Awareness Grant

The Arts and Clean Energy Awareness Grant supports the creation of new art (visual art, murals, performing art, literary art, storytelling, or film) with a community engagement element in Tompkins County. The grant's goal is to fund new art that will promote an awareness of clean energy and empower residents to reduce their energy use and carbon footprint under the theme of "Our Common Clean Energy Future."

The grant is made possible by Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Smart Energy Choices program—the Regional Clean Energy Hub for the Southern Tier—and were administered for Tompkins County by the Community Arts Partnership through a competitive juried application process.

Four local artists were awarded funds for projects which incluce both the creation of original art and engagement with the public in Tompkins County. All projects will be completed by September 2026.

Grant Recipient Andrew Boghossian  
Andrew's artistic focus areas are material reuse, architectonics, participatory design, biogenic material use, material efficiency through fabrication and craft, and circular and resiliency building theory. Funded Project: Re-Balance our Carbon will visualize the three pillars of the Smart Energy Choices program—energy efficiency, renewable heating, and solar adoption—through the construction of a community shade pavilion. Infographics woven into the structure will translate program lessons into accessible and engaging content.  

Grant Recipient Clare Jones
Clare is a poet with grants and fellowships from the New York State Council on the Arts, Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts, the Fulbright Program, and the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Funded Project: Sun Salutations will be comprised of poems of praise based on Smart Energy Choices. The poems are an extension of a series of "Headline Poems" about the climate crisis. The poems will be presented as recycled works of visual art.

Grant Recipient Margaret Kops Kuveke
Margaret (MKK Murals) is a muralist and visual artist with many large scale murals throughout Tompkins County!. Funded Project: Mosaic art that encourages smart energy choices - to be donated to the Smart Energy Choices program for educational purposes. 

Grant Recipient Bethany Parisi 
Bethany is a self-taught interdisciplinary folk artist. Her murals can be seen across Ithaca, and her wood carvings have been featured in numerous group exhibitions across New York State and New England. Funded Project: The Forest’s Last Quilt: A Reflection on Energy Use vs Habitat is a modular folk-art installation designed to visualize the connection between home energy habits and the survival of Tompkins County’s most vulnerable inhabitants, carved in wood with the likenesses of endangered and critically imperiled local species. Bethany is working with with Suz Newman (fiber artist), and Barb Ne al of Sweet Meadow Farm

 

posted May 28, 2026

Announcing the Community Arts Partnership’s 2026 grant awards! 

CAP has distributed $259,304 to over 125 Tompkins County artists & cultural organizations for 2026 projects, opportunities, and events. 

CAP offers four grant programs, three of which are in partnership with the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) through theirStatewide Community Regrant program. "SCR" is made possible by NYSCA with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.  

Robin Schwartz, Program & Grant Director says: "We are grateful to have the resources to support and uplift so many cultural offerings in our Tompkins County communities! Our grants fulfill a vital mission of CAP in making arts and culture accessible to all."

SCR Grants: $209,304 distributed

  • Grants for Arts Programs (GAP): 52 programs funded for public arts events (theatre, music, dance, exhibitions, literary events, films).
  • Artist in Community Grant: 12 artists funded to share their work in an immersive and impactful way with a local community of their choosing.
  • Arts Education Grant: 8 artist funded for residencies in K-12 public schools, after school programs, or closed student groups at community organization

The fourth grant is CAP’s Strategic Opportunity Stipend (SOS).  

$50,000 was distributed to 54 Tompkins County artists for specific and strategic opportunities that will take their career to the next level. Funding for SOS comes from CAP fundraising, a local private foundation, and the Tompkins Today and Tomorrow Fund & Maralyn W. Fleming Fund of the Community Foundation of Tompkins County. 

Erika Mallin, Executive Director of NYSCA, said, “Through the Community Arts Partnership, critical NYSCA funding will fuel inspiring projects all throughout Tompkins County over the coming year. Congratulations to this year’s grantees, we look forward to seeing these exciting initiatives take shape.”

Please visit our Recent Award Lists to see all 2026 grant recipients

 

posted January 14, 2026

CAP was awarded $317,300 from NYSCA to support local arts/artists!

This funding is part of New York State Council on the Arts $80.9 million investment in nonprofits across all 10 regions of New York State, as well as a historic number of individual artists receiving direct support. CAP is thrilled to be among this year’s recipients!

Support for CAP and Regrant Funding in Tompkins County
CAP received $49,500 to support its organizational operations, along with $267,800 to administer NYSCA’s Statewide Community Regrant (SCR) Program in Tompkins County which includes $208,844 to be regranted through three CAP-managed grant programs: Grants for Arts Programs, Arts Education grants, and Artist in Community grants.
Representing an increase over the previous year’s funding, these grants support cultural organizations and municipal arts events, K-12 arts learning and artist-in-community programs.

Support for Artists Grants
In addition to regrant funding, CAP served as fiscal sponsor for two Tompkins County artists who will each receive a $10,000 NYSCA “Support for Artists” grant:
Sorayya Khan for her novel Compass Rose, an unexpected story of migration and love, Compass Rose: A Novel spans post World War 2 Netherlands and communist purges in Indonesia two decades later.
Brian Arnold for an interactive photographic exhibition, Identity, Memory, and Place, designed to engage the Bosnian immigrant community living in Utica, NY, in collaboration with the Bosnian American Community Association.  

From New York State Officials
“New York’s arts and culture sector is a cornerstone of the state’s identity, and we're making bold investments to ensure it remains strong,” Governor Hochul said. “These grants will lift up artists and organizations in every region, fueling local economies and expanding access to the arts. Congratulations to all the grantees – your talent and dedication help power New York’s future.”
New York State Council on the Arts Executive Director Erika Mallin said, “During these challenging times, the New York State Council on the Arts has been a stalwart and innovative funder. These grants will serve artists and organizations in every region and county, fueling our economy and serving our communities. We know this support isn’t just an investment in the arts; it’s an investment in New York’s future. Congratulations to the Community Arts Partnership and thank you for your perseverance, your creativity, and your tireless service to New York State.”
New York State Council on the Arts Chair Patrick Willingham said, “With the unwavering support of Governor Hochul and our Legislature, the Council is proud to congratulate this year’s grantees, whose collective efforts strengthen and benefit us all. I also want to recognize the work of NYSCA’s panelists, staff, and the entire Council, whose dedication has ensured that this critical support will reach every corner of New York State.”

 

posted January 8, 2026

Ithaca is Recognized for Sustained Arts-Vibrancy in this Decade! 

This is exciting news for Ithaca and a testament to the hard work of many people in our community!

SMU DataArts, the National Center for Arts Research, released its 10th annual ranking of the most arts-vibrant communities in the United States, which identifies Ithaca, NY as number 6 in the list of 100 core based statistical areas for 2025. Ithaca is also recognized as a community frequently mentioned in the rankings in the last five years, demonstrating sustained arts vibrancy in the post-covid era. The rankings are based on SMU DataArts’ Arts Vibrancy Index (AVI), which is developed through a data-driven approach that analyzes the level of supply, demand, and government support for the arts using data available in more than 900 communities across the country.

“It is gratifying for the hard work of so many people to be recognized in this way,” says Megan Barber, Executive Director of the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County.  “Our community didn’t achieve this ranking by accident.  We achieved it because of the artistry of our creative workforce, the commitment of our arts supporters, and the passion of our audiences.  We should all be proud.”

The Index reflects fluctuations in arts activity, participation, funding, access and employment that occurs in each community and consistently shows that highly arts-vibrant communities are dispersed broadly throughout the U.S., with every region of the country represented in the top rankings. This finding arises naturally out of objective analysis of the data, not from any selection of communities to achieve geographic representation. From Ohio to Colorado, New York to Alaska, arts vibrant communities recognize regional artistic diversity and community success.

To mark the 10th anniversary of AVI, SMU DataArts has expanded the list to 100 communities—up from 40 in previous years. In addition to identifying the top arts-vibrant communities, the research center has analyzed and ranked all 50 states. Findings from the state-level analysis shows New York as the reigning #1 titleholder for the third consecutive year. To delve into the details and visualize community and state index data in depth, visit the data explorer.

“The Arts Vibrancy Index has shone a light on the people, organizations, and investments that make local culture vibrant for the last 10 years,” stated Dr. Jennifer Benoit-Bryan, Executive Director of SMU DataArts. “By expanding our list to one hundred geographically diverse communities, we celebrate the top 10 percent of arts-vibrant communities nationwide. Through all the ups and downs of the last decade, communities have continued to celebrate and invest in their local arts, and the index has provided data-backed insights to inform planning, advocacy, and well-deserved recognition. We look forward to building on this history as this resource evolves with the sector going forward.”   

The Arts Vibrancy Index is composed of 13 unique measures which cover aspects of supply, demand, and public support for arts and culture, and are adjusted for cost of living and population differences among communities. For more information on how the Arts Vibrancy Index is calculated, metrics, data sources, more detail on specific communities and the data explorer, please visit https://culturaldata.org/arts-vibrancy-2025.