The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) has announced that it will award more than $1.5 million in grants and residencies to 316 Manhattan-based artists and arts organizations through its Manhattan Arts Grants and SU-CASA programs. Among the 2020 recipients are Apexart, Composers Now, the East Village Poetry Salon, the Harlem Arts Foundation, Judson Arts, L.E.S. Creative People in Action, Loose Change Productions, the Sculptors Alliance, Think!Chinatown, and Workers Unite Film Festival.

“LMCC’s grant programs are central to our mission to serve artists and communities and facilitate these connections,” said Lili Chopra, LMCC’s executive director of artistic programs. “We are thrilled to continue this work in support of this year’s individual artists and organizations who are deeply embedded in their communities, caring and nurturing for the artistic and creative lives of their neighborhoods.”

The funds will be distributed through four grant categories: Creative Engagement, Creative Learning, UMEZ Arts Engagement, and SU-CASA. The programs aim to foster greater understanding through art and culture, encourage dialogue, and offer creative learning opportunities to the public. The awards were established in response to the need for direct financial support to cultural producers and to amplify the work of artists and organizations engaging with the current zeitgeist.

As the largest regrantor of public funds for the arts in New York City, LMCC has supported individual artists and arts organizations for thirty-five years. This year’s grant cycle, which is also backed by New York City’s Department of Cultural Affairs, the City Council, New York State Council on the Arts, Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation (UMEZ), and New York City’s Department for the Aging, marks LMCC’s largest investment in local arts programming to date.