Roxbury Arts Group Announces Delaware County Arts Grants Awards

ROXBURY — The Roxbury Arts Group is excited to announce the 2025 grantees of the Delaware County Arts Grants. Administered by the Roxbury Arts Group in Delaware County since 1986, in partnership with the New York State Council of the Arts and the Office of the Governor and the NYS Legislature, the Delaware County Arts Grant program supports artists and organizations in Delaware County with three funding categories: Community Arts, Creative Learning, and Individual Artists.

Community Arts grants are central to RAG’s mission, fostering arts and cultural projects and enhancing the cultural vibrancy of Delaware County communities.

Creative Learning grants play a crucial role in integrating arts into education. These grants support skills-based, arts education programs—with an emphasis on quality creative processes—at Delaware County public schools, after-school programs, and community-based centers. 

Individual Artist Grants focus on the "live and work" philosophy, and invest directly in local artists who reflect and enhance community life and culture. Applicants must engage actively with the community, making their projects a collaborative effort with the community members they serve.

In 2025, the Roxbury Arts Group awarded 40 grants totaling $155,946 to support arts projects and programs through the Delaware County Arts Grant program, a 193% increase from the funds distributed last year. “The Roxbury Arts Group is grateful for the increase in funds we received from NYSCA that we were able to invest into Delaware County’s creative economy,” says Ursula Hudak, Creative Opportunities Coordinator at Roxbury Arts Group. “The grant process remains highly competitive which is a testament to the extraordinary artists and organizations contributing their talents locally.” 

Further, “New York’s dedicated arts and culture sector bolsters our economies, strengthens communities and inspires us all to be better humans,” says Erika Mallin, Executive Director of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). “NYSCA is so proud to support the critical work of Roxbury Arts Group and the Delaware County arts grants. Congratulations to all this year’s grantees, we look forward to seeing your projects grow and flourish.”

Below is a list of the Delaware County Arts Grants that have been funded in 2025. For more information about the Delaware County Arts Grant program, the ongoing Small Arts Grant Program, and other services for creatives provided by the Roxbury Arts Group, visit roxburyartsgroup.org or call Creative Opportunities Coordinator at 607.326.7908.

Community Arts Projects

The Arts Inn Collective presents the 4th Annual H & R Vaudeville Variety Show, “Women Rising,” an all-women festival presented at the Arts Inn in Fleischmanns on May 25,  5-9p, celebrating the indomitable spirit and creative power of women. Suggested donation is $20. For more information, visit ArtsInnCollective.org.

The Bovina Library presents “By the People: Rediscovering a Delaware County Masterpiece.” This series of free talks this fall at the Delhi Post Office and the Bovina Library are designed to engage students and community members in learning about and reflecting on the historic Delhi post office mural depicting a local scene circa 1845 of anti-renters protesting the tenant farmer system.

Catskills Folk Connection presents an exhibit of two Haudenosaunee artists' fiber art for four weeks in August and September, featuring beaded embroidery and finger-woven sashes. The exhibition is enhanced by artists' demonstrations and a scholar's presentation about Lenape fiber traditional arts. The show is tentatively scheduled to take place at the Catskill Watershed Corporation in Arkville.

Catskills Old-time Music in the Mountains presents a series of open jams at Wayside Cider taproom in Andes, held every month starting Sunday, April 27. There will be a workshop for melody instruments from 2-2:45p (suggested donation $20) and this will be followed by the jam (free) from 3-4:30p. The jams are open to any stringed instrument players of any level wanting to play with others in a fun, inclusive atmosphere. See catskills.oldtime on Instagram for more info.

The Catskills Jazz Quartet will perform in Ballintine Park in Andes on July 27, August 17, and September 21 from 2-4p. A suggested donation of $10 is appreciated.

The Colchester Historical Society presents The Colchester Water Festival, ‘Celebrating the East Branch of the Delaware River,’ which will take place on Saturday, July 26 from 11a-3p at the Downsville Boat Launch on State Route 30. The event features music by the Freestone Flood Band, a watercraft regatta, food vendors, talks, demonstrations, children's crafts, a photo exhibit, and the unveiling of a river-inspired sculpture by a local artist.

The Delaware Academy PTA presents performances by Michael Hearst and Haudenosaunee storyteller Perry Ground to Delaware Academy grades K, 2, 3, and 4 in late spring 2025. Michael Hearst and his band will present content from his published books “Unusual Creatures, Extraordinary People, and Curious Constructions” through engaging songs and visual aids, and Perry Ground will present cultural stories of the history and significance of native peoples in our community.

Lisbeth Firmin offers ‘Painting the Towns’, a series of five two-day painting workshops held across Delaware County, in the summer of 2026. 

Friends of Music of Stamford presents a concert of classical music featuring the Fenimore Chamber Orchestra of Cooperstown on June 15.

Paul Geluso presents ‘Woodstockhausen,’ an experimental electronic music festival featuring immersive music, video, installations, and mixed-media performances taking place in July at the Turquoise Barn in Bloomville.

Rhonda Harrow Engel offers a series of figure drawing classes, ‘Drawing From the Model’, every Friday between July 11-August 15, 10:30a-1:30p. There is a fee of $150 that includes all materials and modeling fees. Sessions will be held at the MURAL Gallery in Hobart.

The Hobart Festival of Women Writers presents its 13th annual festival in Hobart on June 6-8, hosting 15 professional women writers, who will present writing workshops, including a special workshop for kids ages 8-12 years. Also on offer: a collaborative, public conversation on bookmaking, and public readings by each of this year's participating writers.

The Hobart Rotary partners with the Town of Stamford to present the 7th Annual Sausage and Brew Festival, an afternoon and evening of free jazz, rock, and soul music for the community, from 1-7p on Saturday, August 23 at the Town Hall in Hobart, 101 Maple Ave. The event features three musical acts: the Leatherstocking Jazz Band, the F.A.R. Trio, and Becca Frame and the Tall Boys.

In fall 2026, Peter Kleeman will tour a limited edition of his Space Age Museum project across Delaware County, featuring a life-size humanoid robot with a mini audio-video exhibit of rare cultural artifacts curated from its globally recognized collection of folk art, rare vernacular photographs, and innovative Space Age design.

The Michael Kudish Natural History Preserve presents Page to Stage "MAGIC!" This outdoor theater festival features short plays written by local writers and cast with local actors. Saturday, July 19 at 5p and Sunday July 20 at 1p.

Mountain Madness presents an interdisciplinary, immersive storytelling experience through the lens of late Confessional poet Sylvia Plath at the Kirkside Pavilion the weekend of August 23-24.

Music on the Delaware presents PorchFest Walton, featuring live music on porches and sidewalks all over town for a day. The event will take place across Walton on June 7 from 11a-3p. There will be a PorchFest informational tent at Veterans Plaza.

Tyler Tamburo partners with Bushel Collective to present ‘Catskill Builders’, highlighting the craftsmanship of Catskills builders through a zine and blog featuring in-depth interviews, photo documentation of self-built structures, and visual artwork and writing by local artists on the theme of building. A zine launch and exhibition will take place at Bushel in December, with programming such as panel discussions, artist talks, and a tool library.

The Party Theater presents the play "Dance Nation" by Clare Barron as their 2025 Mainstage Series production in Stamford, May 17-19 at the Carriage House on Main Street (76 Main St., Stamford, NY). This will be a ticketed event. 

Kathleen Sweeney partners with Bushel Collective to present and curate ‘Symbiocene Era: Mycelium, Soil, Roots, and Community,’ a multimedia exhibition, publication, mini-documentary, and workshop series in collaboration with 10 EcoArtists at Bushel Collective, Delhi, October 25-December 7.

The William B Ogden Free Library hosts ‘Pieces of Our Past: A Heritage Mosaic Workshop,’ a six-session series led by mosaic artist Marilyn Lindstrom. Taking place each Thursday beginning October 2 (5:30–7:30p), participants will incorporate personal items into their mosaics, creating unique pieces that reflect their heritage for a community artist reception on Saturday, November 15 at 11a. Space is limited and registration is required—participants should commit to attending a majority of the sessions. Free for adults, call 607-865-5929 to register.

Individual Arts Projects

Alex Alberto presents a screening of their 20-minute short film "Coming Out Polyamorous for Thanksgiving" at Bushel Collective in Delhi on November 8 at 3p, followed by a Q&A and community discussion.

By the beginning of summer 2025, John Atwood will construct a large public sculpture woven from willow, free to view in a field on Route 18 in Bloomville. The piece will be in dialogue with the surrounding mountains.

Marisa Caruso presents ‘How to Make a Doll,’ an experimental, multimedia, one-woman physical theater piece exploring mental health, an artist-mother-daughter relationship, and cognitive decline through memoir, movement, and medical research. The project will culminate in a live performance for a public audience.

John Halpern presents WE DO: Surfing the Apocalypse Karaoke, an immersive, outdoor, 5-screen video projection, where community members of diverse orientations and backgrounds will sing love songs into a cinematic panorama of moving images collaged of both global crises and global healing activities. The event takes place in July at the Birdsong Farm Community Garden in Hamden.

Annie Hayes, a local maker of primitive hand-hooked rugs, creates ‘We Live Together,’ four rugs based on an animal she has interacted with on land near Delhi, where her farmhouse is located. The works will be exhibited at the Bovina Public Library from November 18 through December 2.

Roshan Houshmand presents ‘The Mandala Project,’ the production and exhibition of new meditational healing mandala paintings, to be exhibited at her studio in Andes this summer and at Good Taste in Franklin this fall. Open to the public.

Keiko Howard (aka Keiko M. H.) presents her new artwork in a solo exhibition titled ‘Farmlands in Upstate New York’ at Bright Hill Press in Treadwell from October 11 - November 8. Works will explore the Treadwell region and its surrounding areas in Delaware County, and will be open to the public.

Marian Hunter produces a video documentary, ‘The Catskilled Crafters,’ about the ad hoc group of artists and crafters who have created seven annual projects by choosing a theme and creating their individual works. To be exhibited on CatskillAir.

Chelsea Frisbee Johnson weaves together stories, family lore, and reflections from the perspective of her favorite place—the farm her family stewards in Delhi—into a chapbook to share through a reading at Bushel Collective on November 15. 

Gerda van Leeuwen presents ‘Migratory Tales,’ a series of printed and embroidered tapestries to be exhibited in November at Art Up Gallery in Margaretville.

Jess Ludwicki presents ‘From Field to Felt,’ a celebration of the beautiful wool grown within our local fibershed via felted wall hangings. This program aims to connect its audience with the fiber producers and their beloved flocks via digital maps and a free in-person event to take place this fall.

Jess Mederos presents ‘Way of the Saints,’ an engagement with community through an intersection of art, religion, and music, showcasing the Afro-Cuban religion of Santeria. The project will be shared with the public at the Stamford Carriage House on September 13.

Anne Elizabeth Moore will write stories exploring the history and impact of intellectual property rights laws on Delaware County as a part of an upcoming book project. A free reading will be held at the end of the year.

Alan Powell presents ‘Painted Ladies,’ a video projection project, held from October 15 - December 30, sundown to midnight, 2-4 days a week at 993 Main Street, Fleischmanns. 

Creative Learning Projects

The Andes Public Library presents their Summer Reading Program, COLOR YOUR WORLD. They will conduct free workshops for grades K-3 and 4-8 at the library every Wednesday from July 9 through August 13, 2025.

Megan Avery partners with the Stamford Library to present an 8-week, after-school sewing program for grades 2-6, combining hands-on learning with important concepts about sustainability and the origins of clothing. Classes will be October 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 and November 6, 13, 20.

Ethan Fox offers a series of world drumming classes to the students of Roxbury Central School during Jessica Young's music class starting in April 2025 and culminating in a final performance to be held on June 18 at 6p at the school.

The Hancock Community Foundation hosts a 4-day workshop series on marionette puppet-making for 60 students in the K-9th Grade After School Program on April 8-11, 2:30-4:30p each day. The students will host a performance for their families and community members at 4:30p on April 11 at Hancock Elementary School. 

Roshan Houshmand presents ‘Sacred Buddhist Arts,’ a series of painting workshops to South Kortright Central School's 9th grade global studies classes about sacred Tibetan Buddhist art forms.