The Cattaraugus County Arts Council is pleased to announce the awardees for the 2014 Community Arts, Artist Education and Artist in Community grants funded by the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

CCAC administers these grants in Allegany, Cattarau-gus, and Chautauqua counties through a competitive application process. A peer panel awarded over $63,000 for the 2014 program year to 31 arts and cultural organization and artists to support community oriented programs throughout the tri-county region.

The Community Arts grants provide financial assistance for community-based arts and culture programs by eligible non-profit organizations. The program exists to support professional fees for artists, marketing costs, and technical production services. CA support enables organizations to grow professionally and to enhance the cultural vibrancy in communities and neighborhoods where they live and operate.

In Chautauqua County, awards were granted to Ahira Hall Memorial Library, $1,738; Alexander Findley Community Library, $1,683; Cherry Creek Community Association, $2,000; Eastside YMCA, $1,300; Farman Free Library, $600; Great Lake FX $1,282, North Shore Arts Alliance, $4,350; Patterson Library, $2,500; and YMCA of Jamestown, $1,283.

Cattaraugus County awardees include Chamber Music Society of Olean, $3,000; Gowanda’s Historic Hollywood Theater, $1,950; Keynote Chorus, $2,700; King Memorial Library, $500; Mental Health Association of Cattaraugus County, $3,171; Olean Community Theater, $4,000; Pfeiffer Nature Center, $1,050; Southern Tier Sym-phony, $4,500 and Saint Bonaventure U., $2,000.

Recipients from Allegany County include Allegany Art Association, $3,907; Belfast Public Library, $1,107; Cuba Circulating Library, $1,920; David Howe Public Library, $2,270; Essential Club Free Library, $627; Genesee Valley Chorus, $587; Vivace String Camp, $3,087; Wellsville Performing Arts Orchestra, $1,703 and Wide Awake Club Library, $970.

Arts Education grants supports the role that local cultural organizations and/or individual artists play in engaging K-12 public school students in rich artistic learning experiences. AE funds are designed to support arts education projects in K-12 school settings. The 2014 Arts Education recipients are Ylsa Maj Giuffre, $2000, and Renee Pye, $561, both from Chautauqua County.

The Artist in Community grants support the creative work of individual artists in all disciplines at the local level while encouraging interaction between artists and community members to highlight the role of the artist as a community resource. The 2014 Artist in Community grant recipients are Allegany County’s Peg Cherre, $2,500, and Chautauqua County’s Thomas Annear, $2,500.

For arts organizations and individual artists interested in applying for future funding, grants are awarded annually with guidelines available in early summer. For more information on these or other funding opportunities, visit myartscouncil.net or contact Courtney Mealy at courtney@myartscouncil.net

For more information, visit www.myartscouncil.net.