The Discovery Center gets $50,000 in grant awards

BINGHAMTON (WBNG) - When it comes to The Discovery Center of the Southern Tier, the flip of the calendar year marked an exciting announcement for the Broome County staple.

Earlier this month, the institution received grant awards totaling thousands of dollars from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).

“We were fully funded on both of our applications,” said Discovery Center Executive Director Dr. Brenda Myers. In total, Myers said they applied for two grants through the New York State Council on the Arts.

“The first one is the operational grant for $40,000 and that is to support staff here who work on arts and education,” said Myers. “The second grant is actually a separate one, which is the artist grant. That’s where we applied for $10,000.”

To get to this point, Myers said it took about six months from the date of submitting an application to a response. After the months-long wait, there’s some processing and paperwork.

“The funding cycle actually starts in January and it goes until December,” said Myers. “It’s this one full year that you need to expend the money.”

Now that the money is secured, here’s the plan when it comes to art.

“We are excited that Niki Wales will be able to come and do mural painting here,” said the executive director. “You know we’re starting in our UPK classroom. You know, you always want an area inviting for children and so our first hope is to have Paddington painted as an addition into the children’s bathroom area. Kind of give it a little fresh look. That’s one of our starting pieces. Of course, we also have some new exhibits opening. We have some artwork, particularly with our Asian cultural exhibit, that we’re excited about having her work on as well.”

Through the state supporting institutions like our Southern Tier staple and individual artists, Myers said it highlights a lot about what the Empire State values.

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