Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the funding at the Storm King Art Center in New Windsor today. Three Capital Region organizations are among the 19 recipients: Art Omi in Ghent, Empire State Youth Orchestra in Schenectady and Troy Savings Bank Hall in Troy.
The funds will support large-scale capital projects. At Art Omi, a $5 million grant will support its new Art Omi Pavilions project, a 190-acre site that will display standalone exhibits and expand the sculpture and architecture park to Chatham. Troy Savings Bank Hall will use its $3.4 million grant towards adaptive reuse of the bank lobby for a music hub. The Empire State Youth Orchestra, which hasn’t had a physical home since its inception in 1979, is putting its $3.5 million towards the renovating the former St. Joseph’s Church Parish Center on MacArthur Drive in Scotia into a youth-focused music center for rehearsals, performances and recording.
“We are so excited about where that might take us because hopefully that confidence is going to translate for others in the community and say, well, if New York State Council on the Arts embedded this project and believes in it, then maybe we can believe in it, too,” said Rebecca Calos, executive director of Empire State Youth Orchestra. “We build things all the time that are athletic centers and basketball courts, and that’s all really great, but in the entire state of New York, there is not one facility like what we’re building.”
A complete list of grantees is available online.
