Art scenes across the Empire State are looking to bounce back better than ever as the state reopens.

“Our core business is finding funds and granting them out to arts, cultural and heritage organizations and individual artists,” said executive director for CNY Arts Stephen Butler. “We support promote and celebrate the arts across Central New York."

Based out of Syracuse, they manage decentralized grants for far more than just the Salt City.

“We manage those grants for six counties, 5,500 square miles. We're the largest geographical Arts Council in the state,” Butler added.

As many gig workers, artists and even educational programs struggled or were completely shut down during the height of the pandemic, organizations like CNY Arts are looking to ramp up efforts to revive them in reopening.

Sometimes, that means working on attracting people to the area and other times it means promoting the arts locally, or even bringing in new faces to the organization.

“Brian Lee is our brand new program officer who's going to be handling the decentralization programs. We're thrilled to have him join us.”

Lee is an artist. He's a woodworker. He's a choral singer, and he's done a lot of community work.

Over the course of the next couple of years, he is going to be in charge of making sure that roughly $500,000 in funds make it to programs and arts opportunities.

“For 2021, we have about $200,000 to work with and to give out, and pretty much $5,000 increments,” said Lee.

But the figures aren’t just cold hard cash.

“To have a community component, always has to have a community component,” Lee said. “And that's something that the New York State Council on the Arts, like, really wants local decision making for local artists.

In order to be designated the much needed dollars, that’s where Lee and CNY Arts really come into play.

“There are a lot of applicants for whom these grants don't feel like money that's for them,” he added. “So there are a lot of applicants who, who don't know how to fill out a budget form, who don't know how to write a compelling narrative on what their project is going to achieve. I help them do that.”

The importance of the arts and education making a comeback can’t be understated, so for those who need help getting the ball rolling? Call Brian and CNYA.

“My email address is on the website, and I'm happy to pick up the phone and help anyone who needs help finding grant funds finding any sort of support to make their project company," he said.