Grantee Features

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posted January 1, 2025

BJM Elementary “Look Club” at State of the Art Gallery

CAP's Grants for Arts Programs supports artistic programs open to the Tompkins County general public. New York State Council on the Arts provides these funds statewide to makes exemplary arts programming available to geographically, ethnically, and racially diverse segments of the State's population.

The State of the Art Gallery (SOAG) is a long time recipient of GAP! Operated by over 25 artist members who staff and run the gallery, they host monthly exhibits, workshops, and events to bring people to the gallery to enjoy and talk about art.

One of the Gallery's outreach projects this year focuses on the students at Beverly J. Martin elementary school. Katrina Morse, gallery member, has worked with the BJM art teacher, Kate Praisner, to design a program for all the students at the school.

Katrina facilitates a "Look Club" for the classes, using whatever art is in the gallery at the classes' visits. There is so much the students learn on a visit, with primary goals being to encourage opinions about art and create a welcoming environment in the gallery so the students come back with their adults!

Additionally, the 5th grader will have an art show of their portraits for parents and gallery members. Along with displaying their work, the students will be reading "I am" poems and there will be a student group playing music. This is very impactful for the children, first visiting the gallery and then having their work there! They are so proud!

Adults can also take part in a Look Club! Gallery Members Patty Brown and Carol Spence join Katrina Morse at the gallery every second Sunday, 2–3 to look at the artwork on display. The next meeting will be on January 11. Learn about different types of artwork and how to talk about art. What do you see? How does it resonate with you?

CAP is thrilled to support amazing arts activities like these in our communities.

Ithaca City of Asylum & Pedro X. Molina

Ithaca City of Asylum presents Voices of Freedom on Dec. 4th, featuring Pedro X. Molina.

CAP's "GAP" grant support artistic programs open to the Tompkins County general public. The New York State Council on the Arts provides these funds statewide to makes exemplary arts programming available to geographically, ethnically, and racially diverse segments of the State's population.

Ithaca City of Asylum is a long time GAP grantee. They invite the community to attend Voices of Freedom, their annual event recognizing artists who continue to create despite persecution. This year they are celebrating the publication of a graphic novel by former ICOA artist-in-residence Pedro X. Molina. Hitos de la Democracia (Milestones of Latin American Democracy), is being published in December by the United Nations Development Programme.

This U.N. program produces an annual report about democracy, usually papers from specialists; but this year, Molina says, they wanted to bring information to the general public, especially young people. His graphic novel is one of three in the current project; the others cover Mexico and El Salvador.

Molina will speak about the development of his graphic novel, including the preparatory work and creative process. He’ll project images from the work and provide translation of the Spanish captions. (Versions in English, French, and Portuguese are forthcoming.)

“From working on this project,” Molina says, “I realized that if you’re waiting for the ideal movement or a magical leader, history teaches you that in fact it’s the work of community – getting together toward a common goal – that’s the most important for change to happen.”

A political cartoonist focusing on Nicaragua and Latin American, Molina publishes regularly for the independent news site Confidencial. His work is also published in CounterPoint and on the cartoon website Tinyview. His cartoons are in syndication with Tribune Content Agency, which distributes them throughout the US.

Thursday, December 4, at 5:45 p.m
BorgWarner Room, Tompkins County Public Library
101 E. Green St., Ithaca

Free and open to the public. Refreshments served

posted October 28, 2025

Latino Civic Assocation - Spanish Puppet Shows!

The Community Arts Partnership is happy to support organizations like the Latino Civic Association (LCA) through our Grants for Arts Programs (GAP).

LCA has received annual funding through GAP for the Heritage Month Celebrations and Heritage Fiesta. In 2025 they also sponsored a grant to host Spanish puppet shows by artists Leonor Lypszic (pictured), and LilySilly Puppets.

The GAP grant supports artistic programs open to the Tompkins County general public. It is through grants like the GAP grant that CAP helps keep Ithaca’s art scene vital!

Leonor is a professional Argentinian puppeteer, dancer, and actress and has been an artist for over 40 years. Her most recent project is the theater company “Los Salvatierras” (The Earth-savers). Her show, “Pedro and the Odyssey of the Parana," has won many awards and nominations from Argentinian entities, and now Leonor is adventuring into international spaces to keep sharing her art with a wider audience!

Leonor brought the story of Pedro, a character that came to life out of her giant book, to Ithaca in mid-October. Pedro has playful moments in his garden with a lama and a bunny, then took on the tale of Ulysses on the Parana River. In the midst of a terrible storm, Ulysses fell under the enchantment of three singing frogs, was attacked by a monstrous one-eyed fish, and was rescued by an unlikely hero.

LCA also hosted local puppeteers from the LilySilly Puppet Theater, who performed one of their well-loved shows, “Wanda and the Three Magic Potions,” for a full afternoon of puppet presentations. Loreto Molina and Eva Luna translated the LilySilly show into Spanish and provided their puppeteers with a script.

Hispanics make up 6.5% of the total population of Tompkins County, yet there is a lack of representation for arts programs for youth. These shows were directly targeted to the Spanish-speaking community and Hispanic youth, to bridge that gap during Hispanic Heritage Month.

Visit https://www.lcatompkins.org/

posted July 27, 2025

Artist Annie Sheng

The Community Arts Partnership is thrilled to support artists like Annie Sheng through our Artist in Community Grant (AICG). The AICG grant is a program of New York State Council on the Arts "Statewide Community Regrants," and gives Tompkins County artists the opportunity to share their work in an immersive way with a local community of their choosing. It is through grants like this that CAP is able to keep Ithaca’s vibrant art scene alive.

Annie Sheng is a visual artist, martial artist, and speculative fiction writer. Her visual art includes acrylic painting, watercolor, and sumi ink on canvas or watercolor paper. She also works in ceramics and mixed media. Her work is speculative and narrative in nature and draws from her identity as a person of Asian heritage and her anthropological background (Ph.D. Anthropology, Cornell University, 2022).

She received AICG funding to create eight large-scale paintings in the form of Kokeshi portraits (Japanese traditional wooden doll crafts), drawing inspiration from interviews with community members, mostly BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ populations. She will also paint eight wooden dolls, drawing from the same interviews.

She is hosting two events, where people of all ages can create Kokeshi dolls at the Lansing Community Library. Come to the library on Saturday, Nov 8th and Nov 15th, 11 am-12:30 pm to create and learn.

"The reason I want to paint kokeshi is because I want to highlight this Asian art form and bring more attention to local Asian-style arts while simultaneously drawing from historically marginalized local community members to bring their portraits to life in modern depictions of this traditional craft."

-Annie Sheng (Multifaceted Artist)

posted June 30, 2025

Walking on Water Productions

The Community Arts Partnership is thrilled to support arts organizations like Walking on Water Productions through our Grants for Arts Programs (GAP). GAP exists to give artist programs and organizations the chance to broaden their reach, cover operating costs, and participate in opportunities and events they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford. It is through grants like this that CAP helps keep Ithaca’s art scene vital.

Walking on Water Productions (WoW) is a Tompkins County musical theatre company that empowers local theatre artists by training, collaborating with, and showcasing them through productions, internships, and workshops that provide individual development and community connection; together, they present both new and existing works that appeal to multi-generational audiences.

They applied to the GAP grant to fund their most recent production: Extended Stay. It was a musical housed at the Kitchen Theatre that ran the first two weeks of June. It tells a story of connection, healing, and personal transformation set in a rural Indiana hotel. The musical was one of three pieces selected for WoW’s inaugural festival of new musical staged readings in 2022 presented at the Cherry Artspace; as the “audience favorite”, it then received a full production at the Kitchen Theatre.

"We are committed to hiring teams and casts that are as diverse as possible with an emphasis on uplifting the marginalized voices of women and folks from the BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities.” -Priscilla Hummel (Founder and Artistic Director)

posted May 25, 2025

Margalo Guo - SOS Grant - a Life Changing Experience

The Community Arts Partnership is thrilled to support artists like Margalo Guo through our Strategic Opportunity Stipend (SOS). The SOS grant exists to give artists the chance to advance their careers and participate in opportunities and events they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford. It is through grants like this that CAP is able to keep Ithaca’s vibrant art scene alive.

Margalo is a 20-year-old muralist and oil painter based out of Ithaca and State College, PA. She has done several oil paintings and murals in both cities, earning herself an impressive and stunning portfolio.

She applied for the SOS grant to fund an opportunity to paint a mural in Miami at the A-Wall mural event that occurs during Art Basel. Art Basel is an initiative that focuses on connecting collectors, galleries, and artists, drives forward the careers of artists and supports the arts. A-Wall itself is a non-profit focused on creating opportunities for artistic expression and inspiration for youth in communities by bringing life and art to public places like schools. The project focuses on connecting artists with walls, and any artist can apply through the yearly call for artists.

Margalo was invited to this event by the executive director of A-Wall and leapt at the chance to not only practice her art outside her normal stomping grounds, but also the to take the chance to connect and network with other muralists.

"This experience was incredible. It was also the most inspiring experience of my career so far because of the other muralists I met. I had no idea people could be so successful doing murals, and I even met some of my muralist idols. I am still in awe, and got a lot of advice from them as well. I am so thankful for the SOS grant allowing me to do this!"

This was Margalo's first big city mural. She was given a large wall, no restrictions, and was told to paint whatever she wished. She chose to paint a beautiful Eastern style dragon spiraling around itself. The dragon was painted to look as if it had clockwork automaton. The mural itself gives a feeling of both steampunk and fantasy, with the two different genres merging to create the fierce but gorgeous dragon. The subdued browns, reds, and greens of the dragon pop against the bright yellow backdrop, making the piece feel quite colorful and bright despite the darker overall tone of the pallet.

If you'd like to see Margalo’s vibrant murals and her gorgeous oil paintings, visit her website at https://margaloguo.com/

Posted March 10, 2025

(Written by CAP Intern, Ithaca College Writing Major Peter McNerney)

Sarah Lopez - A Passion for Fiber

The Community Arts Partnership is proud to support artists through our grant programs! This month our featured artist is Sarah Lopez, recipient of a Strategic Opportunity Stipend ("SOS"). The grant gives Tompkins County artists the opportunity to further their art careers (anywhere in the world)!

Sarah is a gifted Polish, Mexican- American fiber artist who specializes in hand-dyed and hand-spun art yarn on canvas, also known as fiber painting.

Sarah began her artistic journey knitting scarves to feel a connection to her grandmothers who used different plant and animal fibers to knit clothing for their families. Driven by curiosity, Sarah learned how to hand-dye and hand-spin her own art yarn which she then used to make dresses. After the dresses went unused for years, she decided to recycle them, unraveling hundreds of hours of work in the process.

Left with a mountain of handmade yarn and a desire to showcase each unique strand, Sarah began experimenting with gluing her handmade fiber to canvas. She enjoyed the feeling of fiber between her fingers, so she rolled small pieces into swirls before applying them to the canvas. With this first experimental project, she gave birth to her unique medium of art: fiber painting.

Sarah now seeks to use her art to explore various themes of identity, healing and mental health. All of her art yarn is still handmade using wool from a local farm in Trumansburg. She hand-dyes all of it before blending colors and other fibers together. Once everything is blended, she uses a spinning wheel to create art yarn for her paintings. She then individually places and glues each piece of yarn to the canvas to simulate brush strokes, resulting in vivid images with a unique look and feel that truly captures the viewer’s imagination and wonder.

After participating in a few local group art exhibits, she saw an opportunity to gain exposure through solo shows and applied for and received CAP’s SOS grant.

Sarah was awarded funds for three solo exhibit opportunities to display her art around Ithaca. Her first gallery was at Greenstar Cooperative Market, the second was at The Downstairs, and the third exhibit was at the Satori Hair Salon. She used grant funds to create 22 new fiber paintings and two immersive community activities.

Sarah has three events planned for 2025. She is part of the March Mad Lust group exhibition at MIX Gallery which will be on display until March 29th. Her first curated group show is themed around Brazil, featuring music and movement performances along with art from local artists. The opening night is August 8, from 6pm-9pm at Hair. Color. Art on the South Hill Business Campus. She will also have a solo show featuring new fiber paintings at Library Place at 105 W Court Street in Ithaca in September.

To learn more about Sarah, check out her website at: thefiberpainter.com
(Above piece is "Estar," 2023)

posted Dec. 13, 2024

(by Robin Schwartz, CAP Program & Grant Director)

Yamilka Portorreal - Everyday Life and Everyday People

Yamilka Portorreal is a multimedia artist born and partially raised in the Dominican Republic, and is currently based in Ithaca.

Yamilka approached CAP over a year ago with a wonderful idea that was a perfect fit for our Artist in Community Grant.

Their funded project and resulting exhibit is deeply inspired by a commitment to celebrate the joy, wisdom, and experiences of elders in Tompkins County. Yamilka spent ten months interviewing, drawing, and forging connections with residents of Lifelong and McGraw House.

The resulting exhibit, Aging Ithacans, featured ten drawings with accompanying interviews, and was on display at Lifelong in February and March of 2025.

A passage from Yamilka's artist statement beautifully captures their ethos: “Through my art, I invite viewers to join me on a visual journey where the beauty of life, culture, and memories converge. I hope that my work sparks appreciation for the beauty of everyday life and everyday people.”

Here's a pdf of one of Yamilka's interviews with Betty Spero (left)

Learn more about Yamilka: yamilkaportorreal.com

posted Dec. 13, 2024

(by Robin Schwartz, CAP Program & Grant Director)

Ithaca Concert Band - going strong for 4 decades

Tompkins County folks are fortunate to have many non-auditioned community musical groups where people can share wonderful opportunities to make music together throughout their lives.

Friendships are formed and communities experience the power and wonder of amazing performances.

(See a list of groups on our local arts organization page.)

Our December featured CAP grantee is one such group - the Ithaca Concert Band, funded by our “GAP” grant since 1993, and going strong since 1976!

I recently rejoined the band! I was a music major in the 1970’s, played clarinet with the band until 2000 and then didn’t play for over 20 years. I’m back in the saddle and am struck by the commitment, caring and community feeling among the band members and how willingly we all dive into challenging and diverse styles and genres.

(People have asked me: “What is concert band music?” Good question! Music can include a mix of original wind compositions, concert marches, transcriptions of orchestral arrangements, and popular music.)

Read more about the band at ithacaconcertband.org