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Tag: Cultural organizations

  • New York launches $80M grant program for arts groups | Long Island Business News

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    THE BLUEPRINT:

    • New York launches $80M grant program for arts organizations

    • Grants support initiatives across the state

    • Focus areas include , and community growth

    • Application deadline is Jan. 13, 2026, via portal

    is investing $80 million through its Council on the Arts (NYSCA) Fund to support arts and .

    This $80 million funding opportunity for organizations across the state builds on the $86 million in capital awards announced by NYSCA earlier this year, including multi-year investments supporting large-scale capital projects that emphasize and placemaking.

    “New York’s thriving cultural sector attracts global visitors, generates economic opportunity and strengthens our incomparable creativity, which makes us a global epicenter for ,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a news release about the fund.

    “Through this transformative grant program, our world-class organizations will be able to develop innovative and sustainable projects that will serve New York residents and visitors for generations to come,” she added.

    The program is designed to support arts and cultural nonprofits seeking state funding for capital improvements that enhance cultural programming for diverse audiences, promote accessibility and environmental sustainability, preserve and create jobs and drive growth in New York’s arts and tourism sectors.

    “We are deeply grateful to Gov. Hochul for her continued investment in the arts, particularly at a time when cultural funding is being reduced elsewhere,” Lauren Wagner, executive director of , told LIBN.

    “The arts are a powerful catalyst for economic vitality, fueling local economies, strengthening communities and drawing visitors to our region,” Wagner said. “These grants will enable arts and cultural venues to become more accessible and sustainable, enhancing their ability to connect with audiences and serve as essential destinations for residents and visitors alike.”

    Available throughout the state, the fund has three grant categories: Small and Midsized Capital Improvement Grants, Large Capital Improvement Grants and Capital Design Grants for Arts and Culture.

    The Small and Midsized Capital Improvement Grants offer up to $2 million for construction and equipment projects, prioritizing accessibility, sustainability, artistry and community impact. No-match grants of $10,000–$99,000 are available to organizations with operating budgets under $2 million. Eligible projects align strong design with organizational capacity and community needs to support the future of arts and culture in New York.

    Large Capital Improvement Grants are designed to provide grants ranging from $2 million to $10 million to support major capital projects with a total cost of $4 million or more. Covering up to 50 percent of project costs, these grants fund improvements that expand programming, increase accessibility and reach diverse audiences. Applicants must align with the state’s goals for economic development, social equity and public access.

    The Capital Design Grants aim to support the development of mid-stage and advanced design documents for arts and cultural nonprofits with operating budgets of $10 million or less across the state that are planning eligible capital improvements and are currently in the early stages of design. Grants will range from $50,000 to $500,000, for a maximum of 50 percent of the design phase’s total cost. No-match grants of $10,000 to $99,000 will also be available for organizations with budgets under $2 million.

    The application portal and guidelines for these opportunities are now open, and can be accessed on NYSCA’s website, arts.ny.gov. The deadline to submit completed applications is Jan. 13, 2026.

    NYSCA will offer informational webinars and host virtual office hours to provide one-on-one support. Prospective applicants for the large capital grant program are required to consult with NYSCA Capital Projects staff to ensure their projects align with program priorities before applying. Grant awards are anticipated to be announced in spring 2026.

    “We encourage organizations to attend NYSCA’s upcoming webinar on Sept. 18 to learn more and to see if this funding opportunity is the right fit, and we stand ready to provide guidance as needed,” Wagner said.

     


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    Adina Genn

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  • Younger generations of Asians are spending big on art

    Younger generations of Asians are spending big on art

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    Younger, wealthy shoppers in Asia are splashing their cash on art, according to a longtime collector and senior auction house executive.

    Nicolas Chow, Sotheby’s chairman for Asia, said more than 40% of its buyers of contemporary art are millennials (born between 1981 and 1996), while Gen X (1965 to 1980) are also likely to be big spenders, he said.

    “The buyers are increasingly younger. What we’ve seen actually in 2023 … Gen X is the most important buy-base actually — over a million dollars, they dominate the market,” Chow told CNBC’s “Art of Appreciation.”

    Gen Z — the youngest age group for buyers — is “coming in quite strongly,” he said, adding that he recently saw a 20-year-old buyer acquire a piece in Shanghai to celebrate his graduation.

    Wealthy millennials in Asia spent a median of $59,785 on art and antiques during the first half of 2023, while for Gen Zers the figure was $56,000, according to the Art Basel & UBS Survey of Global Collecting 2023.

    Buying at auction — instead of from a dealer, for example — is popular with millennials and Gen X collectors globally, according to the survey. The trend appears to be playing out in Asia. At Christie’s Hong Kong spring season auction, held between May 25 and June 1, around a quarter of buyers were new to the auction house, and 43% of those were millennials, according to an online release.

    A visitor takes a selfie with work by Yoshitomo Nara during Sotheby’s Hong Kong spring sales on April 2, 2024.

    Chen Yongnuo | China News Service | Getty Images

    And, while the size of the global art market fell 4% last year to around $65 billion, according to the Art Basel & UBS Art Market Report 2024, sales in China rose by 9% in 2023, overtaking the U.K. as the world’s second-largest art market. “Activity surged as post-lockdown buyers snapped up backlogged auction inventories and as Hong Kong’s major fairs and exhibitions returned to full-scale programming,” wrote report author and founder of Arts Economics, Clare McAndrew.

    For Sotheby’s, the rise in younger buyers is driven in part by an increase in online activity. “During the pandemic, we really sort of developed our digital abilities with live streaming … And this has really brought in art to the greater communities and allowed us to engage with our buyers across the world,” Chow said.

    Younger collectors are keen on newer art forms, with Gen Z collectors having the highest average expenditure on digital art globally — as well as prints — of any generation, according to the Survey of Global Collecting 2023.

    Young digital artists

    For Angelle Siyang-Le, director of the Art Basel fair in Hong Kong, artists who work in digital media are becoming more prominent. “The definition of digital art nowadays has been expanded from simply photography to video art to NFTs to AI-generated art,” she told CNBC’s “Art of Appreciation.”

    An NFT, or non-fungible token, is a unique digital asset stored on the blockchain. Sales of art-related NFTs were $1.2 billion in 2023, less than half the $2.9 billion peak in 2021 — though still significantly higher than 2020 sales, which were $20 million, according to the Art Market Report 2024.

    “With the younger generations becoming more and more prominent in the market … digital artists … will be the group of artists getting more attention,” Siyang-Le added.

    Hong Kong-based artist Mak2 uses a variety of mediums in her work, including Instagram videos. Her 2017 work, “You Better Watch Out,” an inflatable, transparent “snow globe,” featured floating QR codes that the audience could scan. CCTV cameras filmed people scanning the codes, which linked to a web page that showed the audience looking at the artwork.

    “So you are watching yourself being watched,” Mak2 told CNBC’s Art of Appreciation. “You’re not just looking at your phone, you’re becom[ing] data circulat[ing] inside the app and being recorded and analyzed,” she added.

    People view work at Art Basel Hong Kong, held in March 2024. An installation by artist Mak2, “Copy of Copy of Copy of Copy,” is just seen at the center.

    China News Service | Li Zhihua | Getty Images

    Mak2 exhibited at Art Basel Hong Kong in March, with an installation named “Copy of Copy of Copy of Copy,” based on video game The Sims and painted by artists she commissioned via an e-commerce site.

    Over the past 10 years, Sotheby’s has “opened up” more to contemporary and modern art, Chow said. “Fifty years ago when we came to Asia … we brought Chinese art … And today, we sort of really opened the market to all sorts of new experiences and new material, from dinosaurs to cars to contemporary art, from all around the world. NFTs, sneakers, you name it,” he said.

    Hong Kong’s Art Gallery Association recorded a 27% increase in member galleries between 2021 and 2023, while the Hong Kong Palace Museum opened in 2022, and the M+ last year — both contemporary museums that foster a “greater interest” in the art community in Asia, Chow said.

    Sotheby’s has been holding auctions Asia since 1973 and will open a flagship “maison” in Hong Kong in July, which will sell pieces for immediate purchase as well as holding regular auctions. “At our our maison, we’ll be bringing material from across the spectrum of what Sotheby’s has to offer, from the remote prehistory all the way to the digital future,” Chow said.

    — CNBC’s Quek Jie Ann contributed to this report.

    Watch The Art of Appreciation on CNBC International

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