Gratitude Grants
In 2024 the Saugerties Arts Commission offered grant funding to help support Arts Organizations who offer free programming in Saugerties. We called it “Grattitude Grants” to honor thanks to the many hours of volunteer work given to offer our community free access to the arts.
2024 Recipients
Waterfront Wednesdays at Tidewater Center are free community events that feature a performance by Arm-of-the-Sea Theater, plus a variety of pre-show activities designed to attract diverse audiences. There are 9 Waterfront Wednesdays scheduled weekly this summer. Attendance averages 70-100 per event.
We offer free lectures by each of the artists who we show at the gallery per season. We rely on publics donations to pay the artist but most times we make almost nothing. This would be great to give each artist stipend for their talk which is free to the public. We have usually 6 artist talks per season. Plus we would be use a portion to pay someone to live stream the events so we could expand our reach.
Family Films provides 4-5 weekend screenings of films for youth. We've to date hosted 19 events in Saugerties and 16 were sold out.
We hold an Open House Weekend that is has free programming all day which includes local musicians, artists and our highly creative crew, many of whom are illustrators, potters, designers. Our education philosophy centers on art and nature helping people to make a connection to culture and the land. In 2024, we hosted over 150 people, intergenerational, kids, parents, adults and grandparents.,
We are the only chamber music series in Saugerties and surrounds. The series serves all age groups, but primarily music-loving adults. All concerts are free.
As many as 1000 people view each concert. We have 100-135 people at each concert in the wheelchair accessible Saugerties United Methodist Church, they are aired on YouTube channel for 200-500 people to see. In addition, Lighthousetv runs the concert 6+ times on the local station and it is always available on their on-demand channel and Facebook.
JAZZED brings a series of concerts of professional musicians who perform standard and fusion jazz (America's unique contribution to the field of music) curated by a highly regarded, former head of jazz vocals at Bard College, Pamela Pentony. The series is in its 4th year and features established as well as up and coming young musicians. JAZZED offers all in the community an opportunity to hear music of high quality performed by professionals, free, in an accessible space. Some concerts have attracted over 70 people.
The Hudson Valley New Year’s Day Spoken Word/Performance Extravagsnza 2024 features around 125 performers each performing for 3 minutes, plus an open list for anyone who wishes to perform. The extravaganza has always been free. Its mission is to celebrate the arts of the Hudson Valley, and to introduce local artists of talent to the community at large. We also organize a charity drive, collecting canned food for people in need, and books for people in prison.
Six times per year we present a new exhibition of local or regional artists work, starting in the spring with the Exhibition of Saugerties Artist Tour artists. In 2024 we also have exhibitions for Pride month, a photo exhibition, a Zine exhibition and one featuring Portia Munson and Jared Handelsman. Each show has a free opening meet-the-artists event. Attendance at the openings can be as high as 70+ people. Attendees also get the great experience of visiting the Opus 40 sculpture when they come to an opening.
Grants have been discontinued at this time. For more information, please call (845-246-2800 x17)
