The Earlville Opera House (EOH) is pleased to accept invitation by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) to administer the Broome, Chenango & Otsego Decentralization Program, effective July 2020, for arts and cultural grants available in 2021 and beyond.
Founded in 1977, the Decentralization Program (DEC) was developed to ensure that New York State's cultural funding reaches every part of the state. DEC has since become one of the most effective means of making arts support available to geographically, economically and ethnically diverse segments of the state's population. The program serves each of the state's 62 counties by offering annual grants up to $5k each to non-profit organizations, artists and collectives for cultural and artistic public programming. There are only 27 DEC sites across New York State. EOH DEC grant opportunities include Community Arts Grants and Arts Education Grants.
EOH is thrilled to announce that skilled arts administrator Victoria Calvert Kappel will join the EOH team as the new Decentralization (DEC) Coordinator. Victoria was most recently Executive Director of Arts at the Palace in Hamilton, NY. During her four year tenure she developed new and creative programming including Summer Youth Theater Workshops and From Script to Stage, a new play development residency. Prior to that, Victoria was Executive Director of the Chenango Arts Council for 15 years where she led the Council’s growth to a regional, diverse and inclusive community arts venue, expanding quality family performing and visual arts programming.
A native of Indiana, Kappel held Executive Director positions in Indianapolis and Chicago, working with and developing community-based cultural organizations and educational theater companies. She is a member of Actors Equity Association and SAG/AFTRA.
The DEC program has been administered in Chenango County since 1986 and was fortunate to leverage private funding from the Stewart W. & Willma C. Hoyt Foundation in Binghamton to combine with NYSCA funding, a state-wide example, for additional cultural development support in Broome County. To date, DEC has re-granted well over a million dollars into the tri-county service area to foster arts and public arts engagement.
As stated by EOH Executive Director, Michelle Connelly, “The DEC Program enables cultural development in the most rural and impoverished pockets of our service area, bringing arts and culture to populations who may have little or no access to these humanities. The program fosters growth and capacity of local non-profits and cultivates careers for emerging and established artists. Most importantly, DEC supports meaningful public arts engagement and youth arts education opportunities that assist individuals in connecting with themselves and others through the arts. As a result, DEC is a community capacity builder as well as a driver for economic development in our region.”
Connelly added that “Assuming administration of the DEC Program is a most welcome addition to the programs and services offered by the Earlville Opera House Multi-Arts Center. We look forward to reestablishing the program in order to provide the most professional technical assistance to the regional arts field as possible with Victoria at the lead”.
The Earlville Opera House was founded in 1972 as a non-profit community service organization promoting the arts in rural Central New York by offering programs of cultural, educational and historical significance. Inclusive in the organization’s mission is to preserve the architectural and historic integrity of the EOH, a unique second-story theater constructed in 1892. Key EOH programs include a wide range of eclectic culturally diverse visual and performing arts programs represented through rotating gallery exhibitions featuring the works of local, regional and national artists; a live performance series presenting shows ranging from community theatre to nationally renowned touring musicians; arts workshops; classes and arts education opportunities for all populations. The EOH was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Watch our website at www.earlvilleoperahouse.com for more information to be released on the DEC Program including 2021 grant guidelines and application materials. Victoria can be reached at [email protected] for DEC inquiries. We look forward to an in-person meet and greet as the future allows!
The Earlville Opera House is located at 18 East Main Street in the quaint Village of Earlville, NY 13332 and is handicap accessible. We can be reached at [email protected], or through Facebook.
EOH events are made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and through the generosity of EOH members. Additional support for the Broome DEC Program graciously provided by the Stewart W. and Willma C. Hoyt Foundation, Inc.