Arts Council Makes a SPARK
Spooning out Funds for the Arts….
July 28, 2010 - 6pm
Hudson Street Café, 237 Hudson Street, Cornwall-on-Hudson
Creative Contacts, a program that the Arts Council began in October of 2008, has been a great way for net-working with artists, showcasing work, and sharing conversation and a meal. And as the Orange County Arts Council continues to grow so do the programs; hence the Council has de-cided to step it up a notch and add a new and really exciting component called SPARK. Based on the St. Louis’ SLoup, Brooklyn FEAST and our Creative Contacts, this will be a bi-monthly event designed to use community-driven financial support to democratically fund artmakers.
The inaugural SPARK is being hosted by the Hudson Street Café, 237 Hud-son Street, Cornwall-on-Hudson on July 28 at 6pm and is sponsored by Sloan Publishing. Here’s how it works. Artists will submit a brief de-scription (500 words or less) of their project by Tuesday at noon prior to the event on Wednesday. Everyone pays $10 and gets to have a meal (something simple like soup and bread). Proposals are distributed to the attendees and then artists will be given 2-3 minutes to talk or give a presentation about their project. All those in attendance will then vote for their favorite project and the winner gets the proceeds to assist with their project. Depending on how many people are there determines the amount of money awarded.

The important thing, isn't the money, it's about sharing your project with the community (well, the money’s important too, but…). There are now events like this in Boston, Portland and Chicago and the number is grow-ing. The hope is that this model will not just change the way art is funded but change the relationship between artists and patrons and make the art world feel less exclusive and more like a dinner party with friends; and the more friends that attend, the more money there is to distribute.

The Orange County Arts Council is a non-profit arts service organization dedicated to strengthening the Arts in Orange County by providing educa-tional, promotional and informational services to artists, arts organizations and the community. The Council also works to facilitate relationships be-tween the arts, schools, businesses, government and the public through its various programs. These include: Arts for Vets, Arts in Education, Annual Arts Awards, Advocacy, discounted Health Insurance, Workshops & Seminars and Town Meetings & Artist Mixers.
For more information about
SPARK or the Council, contact
Susan Linn at 845.469.9168 or www.ocartscouncil.org