OCNY Sustainable Arts Program opens registration, announces 2025 grant recipients

The Orange County NY Arts Council has announced four local artists selected to receive grant funds as part of the 2025 Sustainable Arts Program. The Sustainable Arts Program is a seven-week professional development course open to the public that “aims to provide essential guidance for a success in arts business and entrepreneurship,” OCNY explained. The program is designed to cultivate long-term success for local arts and provide skills in arts organization, finance, governance, marketing, and more. Upon completion of the course, grantees will be awarded between $1,000 to $5,000 to support their work in alignment with course learnings.

The 2025 Sustainable Art Program Grant Recipients are:

Alex Prizgintas is a cellist, author, and historian from the Woodbury area. Classically trained, he employs non-classical tools like distortion, delay, and the iconic “wah-wah” guitar pedals. He also guides audiences through musical history which he calls combining “history with harmony.”

Corrine Beardsley is a sculptor based in Orange County who uses sculptures to “embody memory and touch through haptic records of clay. The transformative processes of her materials reflect on our fragile relationship with the environment, and how we are shaped by technology,” OCNY explained.

Merry Mcloryd lives in Monroe and manages the greenhouse and market at Goshen Green Farm. As a primarily self-taught artist she has explored many mediums over the years, most recently working with installations that interact with the viewer and the environment.

LotuZ is an Orange County-based multidisciplinary artist who uses her art to uplift marginalized voices and advocate for systemic change. Through her “creationz,” OCNY says she sparks connection, reflection, and dialogue-breaking down barriers along the way. “Whether through her visual art, spoken word, or performances, LotuZ challenges perspectives, creatively amplifying the voices of those often unheard.”

All grantees will also have the opportunity to apply for funds for projects for the subsequent two years, joining last year’s cohort of participants now in their second year: Paige Dillon, Janet Muller, Nicole Hixon, Jiayi Ma, Shawn Rawls, and Damien Hughes.

“The Sustainable Arts Program’s pilot year, last year, surprised us all with its success. The participants, both grant awardees and those not receiving funds came back with such positive feedback about the program saying they learned so much from our speakers,” said Todd Hulet, executive director of the Orange County NY Arts Council. “And we’ve only learned from last year’s course and I know this year will be even more valuable for our community to access the knowledge to set our whole arts community up for success.”

The 2025 program sessions are organized by community member Jena Argenta, and will take place at CoLab in Goshen from 5 to 8 p.m. All sessions are available to the public with prior registration through the organization’s website: ocartscouncil.org. This year’s sessions include: Introduction to Arts, Economics, & Culture, March 17; Relationships & Support, March 24; Business Arts, March 31; Marketing Arts, April 7; Protections & Accounting, April 14; and Presentation Arts, April 21. Cost to attend is $35 for non-members, $20 for Arts Council Friend members, and free for individual members and above, per session.

The Orange County NY Arts Council Sustainable Arts Program is administered by the Orange County NY Arts Council and funded through individual donations made to the Arts Council from donors and sponsors. For more information, visit ocartscouncil.org or call 845-202-0140.