Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report

Fiscal year 2016 was an exciting year for The ARTS Council! The grants funding made available through our administration increased from fiscal year 2015 by over $19,000. We refocused our work on services for artists and cultural partners by dedicating a full-time staff person to Programs and Outreach, and developing a more engaged volunteer base. Evidence of the impact of this adjustment was reflected in things like the launch of Poets in Play, a bimonthly poetry reading at Soul Full Cup Coffeehouse in Corning. Furthermore, in collaboration with The Rockwell Museum and Urban Corning, The ARTS Council helped initiate the Urban Arts Crawl, featuring arts experiences in Corning on the final Friday of the month from September through May. It was also an important year for the Folk Arts Program, which worked in collaboration with the Heritage Village of the Southern Finger Lakes to mount an exhibit called Black Voices of Corning: Perspectives on Place. This exhibit shared the stories of the African-American community in Corning, as well as exploring African-American foodways, regional history, and gospel music.

The increase in programming and our strong commitment to collaboration has made The ARTS Council more relevant than ever to our three-county service region. We continued to work with the Cultural Heritage Committee to develop approaches to community development and increase tourism in Chemung, Schuyler, and Steuben counties through projects such as Points of Inspiration, a driving trail featuring architecture and scenic views.

The work that happened in this year set the stage for additional powerful programming beginning in fiscal year 2017. Programs and Outreach has developed a popular workshop series called Business of Art, as well as networking opportunities for artists such as Create and Connect. The Folk Arts Program has been engaged in research with the Jewish community in Elmira that will culminate in an exhibition in collaboration with the Chemung County Historical Society and the Jewish Federation of the Twin Tiers. Finally, the initiation of The Evelyn Peeler Peacock Gallery and its solo show program have had a direct impact on the careers of emerging artists in the region. Because the arts are foundational to the human experience and a thriving region. The ARTS Council is committed more than ever to serving individual artists and cultural partners. Thank you for working with us towards this goal!

The ARTS Council’s finances were stable going into Fiscal Year 2017 thanks to steady support from the New York State Council on the Arts, the Corning Incorporporated Foundation, the Community Foundation of Elmira-Corning and the Finger Lakes and our many generous donors and supporters.

Grants Highlight:
Steele Memorial Library

Central to our mission of making art accessible, The ARTS Council administered a number of different grant programs that support artists and organizations in this endeavor. Over the last two years, through generous support of the Community Foundation of Elmira-Corning and the Finger Lakes, the Steele Memorial Library in Elmira, NY partnered with artist Aleta Yarrow on more than a dozen art workshops that cover a wide variety of topics such as printmaking, color theory, clay-making, and more. Grant funding covered all of Aleta’s artist fees to design and implement the programming, while the library contributed all supplies. Focused on adult learners, workshops were open and free of charge, and with an average of 25 participants for each workshop, the library successfully filled every workshop to capacity.

Folk Arts Highlight:
Finger Lakes Fruit Heritage Project

The Finger Lakes Fruit Heritage Project will document the history and creativity of cider making, orchards, fruit, u-pick, cider mills, festivals, foodways, fermentation, preserving, grafting, old varieties, migrant labor, landscapes, artists, agriculturalists, musicians, and more!  This is a new research project, and we welcome input from the community.

Perspectives on Place

The exhibit explored the history and culture of Corning’s Black community and the way changing attitudes to race have shaped the city. Based on oral history interviews, photographs from private collections, and historical maps of Corning from museum archives, the exhibit painted an intimate portrait of the experience of being Black in Corning.

Food & Migration with Michael Twitty

Michael Twitty, African American culinary historian and activist, gave several presentations and a hands-on cooking experience that explored the heritage of African food and African American cooks. From cultural origins in Africa, to the kitchens where enslaved Africans toiled in bondage, the influence of African food remains part of our collective, but often unacknowledged, American heritage.

Programs Highlight:
National Youth Art Month

Last March as in years past, The ARTS Council participated in National Youth Art Month (NYAM). NYAM is a month of celebration, awareness, and advocacy for art in our schools.

The bright colors and eclectic designs of student artwork transformed businesses and organizations throughout Chemung, Schuyler, and Steuben counties into art exhibit spaces.

Let NYAM be a catalyst for you to explore the imperative role  that arts & creativity play throughout our lives – from cognitive development in early childhood to stimulation in our elder years.

Cultural Partners

Through the generosity of donor Meleny Peacock, we laid the ground work for the launch of The Evelyn Peeler Peacock Gallery. We were honored to name our gallery for Evelyn Peeler Peacock, a shining example of the power of art to lift lives out of turmoil and transform them. This gallery, and the resulting solo show program, serves as a primary resource for artistic and professional growth for emerging artists in the Southern Finger Lakes. Providing a supportive environment that assists artists as they grow professionally and explore their media, the gallery features a wide range of shows throughout the year including solo, member, and regional juried exhibitions. A variety of two and three dimensional media, including glass, Wood, fiber-arts, Clay, photography, painting, drawing, literary arts, jewelry, video, music, and more are on display.

Additional assistance for programs and services of The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes are provided by The Corning Incorporated Foundation, the Chemung County Legislature, the Schuyler County Legislature, and the Steuben County Legislature.