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Orange County Arts Council outlines 2025 programs, student showcases and expanded partnerships
Summary
Todd Schulich, executive director of the Orange County Arts Council, presented the council’s 2024 recap and a program slate for 2025 that includes student showcases, regional partnerships and expanded artist support.
Todd Schulich, executive director of the Orange County Arts Council, briefed the committee on the council’s 2024 recap and a slate of 2025 programs and partnerships designed to expand arts participation and economic impact.
Schulich said the Arts Council’s 2024 work included an arts support services program that provided one-on-one consultations and roughly 300 hours of advising to artists and organizations; the council reported distributing just under $30,000 in direct artist payments in 2024 and estimated an economic impact figure using standard ticket-spend metrics. He described several 2025 initiatives: an expanded Artsfield Student Showcase (expected attendance growth from about 4,500 in 2024 to an estimated 6,850 in 2025, 16 high schools and 21 K–8 schools participating), a sustainable-arts program beginning March 17, a scaled Creative Impact mixer (a 5–8 p.m. event in 2025 ahead of a larger regional conference in 2026) and a bus tour tied to Upstate Art Weekend.
The council plans OC Live in partnership with the Cornell Cooperative Extension fair to boost exposure for local artists to a larger audience (the fair drew about 15,000 in a prior year). Schulich said the Arts Council added five new board members and is facilitating mural projects in Middletown and Newburgh, an arts month promotional campaign with county tourism, and a new community-first project-management pilot that places community members in leadership roles for small projects. He said art-support service requests have jumped from 22 in 2024 to about 70 so far in 2025.
Schulich thanked the legislature for continued funding support and described ongoing collaborations with the Orange County Human Rights Commission and the county’s commissioner of jurors on site-specific artworks. The presentation was informational; the transcript records appreciation and no committee vote on funding requests during the briefing.
Ending: The committee heard the Arts Council’s plans for program expansion and partnerships and the council said it will continue to report outcomes and requests for support to the legislature as needed.
