NORWICH – The Chenango Arts Council (CAC) is pleased to announce the allocation of nearly $130,000 in funding to 50 non-profit organizations and artists in three counties through the 2016 Broome, Chenango & Otsego Decentralization (DEC) Grant Program.

$10,000 of funds was provided by the Stewart W. & Willma C. Hoyt Foundation for Broome County.

The Decentralization Program offers grant support up to $5,000 for various community arts and arts education projects.

To mark the allocation, an Awards Ceremony will be held in the Council’s Martin W. Kappel Theater located at 27 W. Main Street in Norwich on Thursday, April 14 beginning at 5 p.m.

This event is free and open to the public, and the CAC encourages community members to attend the ceremony as they celebrate 30 years of the CAC's administration of DEC in Chenango County.

The New York State Council on the Arts established the DEC Program in 1978 to foster the continued development of local cultural resources responsive to community need. DEC serves all of New York State’s 62 counties, including areas that are geographically isolated, economically disadvantaged and ethnically diverse. The CAC is one of only 28 DEC sites statewide.

“The basic principle of DEC re-grant funding is local decision-making using a peer panel grant evaluation process,” said Michelle Connelly, Administrator of the CAC's DEC Program. The DEC program operates on an annual basis, and panel nominations are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year.