The United Cultural Fund (UCF) is the annual fundraising effort of the Broome County Arts Council (BCAC) which raises and distributes funding for new, exciting, and necessary artistic endeavors, county-wide.

“The funding we received from the United Cultural Fund was imperative to creating the Live Character Tour for the Phelps Mansion Museum.  We wouldn’t have been able to get the project off the ground so fast without the support of the UCF.” — Jennifer Corby, Executive Director of  the Phelps Mansion Museum

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Now in its 37th year, the United Cultural Fund is a unique community resource whose financial benefits are a
two-way street. Past recipients have returned more than $4 million to Broome County’s economy and supported about 1,500 full, part-time and contracted jobs (as per data from 2019).

HISTORY

The United Cultural Fund (UCF), one of 40 United Arts Funds (UAF) nationwide and the only one in upstate New York, was established in 1987 at the request of Broome County Government and several major foundations to offer an accountable, centralized way to support important nonprofit arts organizations of unique value to this community. Since 1987, the Broome County Arts Council (BCAC) has continued to manage this essential financial resources for arts programming by organizing the UCF fundraising campaign, advising prospective applicants and application review panelists, convening allocation panels, reviewing grant recommendations, approving awards, and overseeing compliance with the terms of UCF grant contracts.

IMPACT

General Operating Support (GOS)

GOS Grants provide arts organizations full autonomy over their programming and heighten their ability to bring new, community-oriented and culturally enriching art experiences to Broome County. 

Project Grants 

Project Grants fund specific efforts by smaller, local organizations and/or independent artists, presenting these parties the ability to fully realize high-quality events.

In 2023, BCAC’s United Cultural Fund campaign awarded 8 large arts organizations much-needed general operating support and 13 smaller arts organizations and individual artists Project Grants.

COMMUNITY

Broome County Arts Council believes that a broad range of voices at all levels of our funded organizations, and diverse art forms representative of all backgrounds and experiences, are essential to driving an authentic, inclusive, and sustainable community impact through art.

BCAC’s 2023 United Cultural Fund Grant Awards

General Operating Support

Endicott Performing Arts Center logo
Roberson logo
Tri Cities Opera logo
The Goodwill Theatre Inc logo

2023 Project Grants

Binghamton Community Orchestra
Public concert “Far East to Near East, North to South”

Binghamton Downtown Singers
Spring Concert 2023- A Concert of Healing featuring Brahms’ Requiem and Forrest’s Requiem for the Living

Binghamton University Foundation
2023 Binghamton Poetry Project

Binghamton Theater Organ Society
Charlie Chaplin Double Feature with live organ music accompaniment with Dennis James

The Cazenovia Convention

Cornell Cooperative Extension
Much Ado in the Garden

Endwell Community Chorus
Bouncing Back Better After the Pandemic

Kopernik Society of Broome County
8th Exposure: A Screening of Art Films with Astronomical Images

The Madrigal Choir of Binghamton
The American Songbook: From Gershwin to Now!

Nanticoke Valley Historical Society of Maine, NY
Visions of Maine, NY 175 Years

Phelps Mansion Museum
Live Character Tour of the Phelps!

Vestal Museum and Coal House
Second Saturday Live Music Series