Art$WChallenge Raises $819K For Arts; Receives County Grant

WHITE PLAINS, NY — Eighty-five Westchester County arts organizations will receive matching funds from the Art$WChallenge grant program.

Westchester County Executive George Latimer and the county Board of Legislators joined with ArtsWestchester to announce that participating organizations raised $819,759.

That is the largest amount raised in a single year in new private funds from 1,234 donors through the program which ended Dec. 31.

The private funds were matched with $463,325 in Westchester County support, providing a total of $1.28 million in financial support for the arts community at a critical time when arts groups are working to build back arts audiences lost during the pandemic.

Latimer said that, since the inception of the Art$WChallenge in 2007, the program has raised nearly $7 million to support the county’s arts and cultural sector, matched with more than $3 million in county support.

“The county’s arts community has weathered a difficult few years,” he said. “In fact, there has never been a more important time to help the arts make a comeback and to allow them to work their magic to bring people and communities back together than now.”

Arts organizations in every corner of Westchester received the funds. They include Downtown Music at Grace (receiving a matching grant of $8,500), presenting free live music weekly in Downtown White Plains; Songcatchers in New Rochelle (receiving a matching grant of $8,500), providing free and low-cost music instruction for kids of all ages; and New Era Creative Space (receiving a $1,500 matching grant), providing visual, performing arts and STEM/STEAM instruction in Peekskill.