The Spencertown Academy Arts Center announced February 7, it has been awarded a grant totaling $49,500 from the New York State Council on the Arts to support the recovery of the nonprofit arts and culture sector. NYSCA [NISS-kah] has awarded more than $80 million since June 2021. Nick Van Alstine, President of Spencertown Academy Arts Center’s Board of Directors said, “What timing! This year we will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Spencertown Academy arts organization, and the 175th year since the Academy was built as a school back in 1847. The NYSCA grant is targeted at supporting artists of all types, and we are excited by projects we are currently developing that will do just that. We are so grateful to NYSCA and Governor [Kathy] Hochul for this generous grant in support of our goals.” The Academy’s new projects include partnerships with related non-profit arts groups, as well as a planned outreach to professional writers, a five-day writers’ conference. Academics, agents, and published writers will lead sessions in both craft and career management. Hochul said of the grantees, “These awardees represent the best of what New York’s vibrant communities have to offer and with this funding in hand, they will be able to not only continue their creative and inspiring work, but help spur revitalization in their own backyard as well.” Read more at SpencertownAcademy [dot] org.