CHENANGO COUNTY – The Chenango Arts Council has announced $109,400 in grants to artists and arts organizations throughout the area as part of the 2015 Broome, Chenango and Otsego Decentralization (DEC) grant program.

The DEC program is a state funded program providing artists and various organizations monetary help for community-minded projects. In addition to the $99,400 received from the New York State Council on the Arts for projects in Broome, Otsego and Chenango counties, another $10,000 was contributed by the Stewart W. and Willma C. Hoyt Foundation for arts projects specifically in Broome County.

For 37 years, the New York State Council on the Arts has administered the DEC program to promote development of cultural resources in all 62 counties in the state. The Chenango Arts Council is one of 29 DEC locations, allocating minimum grant amounts of $500 and maximum amounts of $5,000.

“The most important thing about this fund is that we spread the money over a wide geographic region in each county in the most impoverished pockets to bring arts where they might not be otherwise,” said Michelle Connelly, Program and Development Director for the Chenango Arts Council. “Some of these applicants depend on DEC grants for major projects to happen, especially small groups that don’t have a lot of funding avenues for arts related projects.”