History, Natural History & the Arts
For the history community, one of the most important resources for Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) funding has been the New York State Office of Parks and Historic Preservation (State Parks), despite the agency is mostly concerned with parks, not historic sites.
[Read more…] about REDC Funding for History Projects and State Parks
We are in the midst of the bicentennial of the construction of the Erie Canal. It began on July 4, 1817, in Rome and ended eight years later with the Wedding of the Waters on November 4, 1825 in New York Harbor.
In 2017, the World Canals conference was held in Syracuse in honor of the bicentennial. One would think that the eight-year commemoration provides ample time to develop Paths through History along the Erie Canal. There could be multiple paths as people returned each summer for another conference and tour. Forts Plain and Ticonderoga both have annual American Revolution conferences with tours. [Read more…] about History, REDC Funding and New York State Canals
In December the latest round of Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) awards for 2018 were announced. The awards distribute funds to the different regions of the state by category. This week I reviewed the awards from I LOVENY, and listed them in alphabetical order by region and county. [Read more…] about Feinman: 2018 REDC Grants and NYS History
It’s that time of the year again. It is time to start preparing your proposals for the 2018 version of Hunger Games, the Regional Economic Development Councils.
This time however, I suggest the history community try something different. [Read more…] about State’s REDC Funding Cycle Begins: Start Your Proposals
A few years ago, NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo launched a statewide “Revitalization Initiative” to help revitalize and expand the state’s economy. Job creation is the primary goal. Major state funding has been allocated and directed to a variety of projects. Last spring, the Governor changed the program to focus on the “Upstate Revitalization Initiative.” The overall goal is “systematically revitalizing the economy of Upstate New York,” in the words of the official guidelines. [Read more…] about Upstate Revitalization: Limited Inspiration from the Past
Passports are an underutilized resource for promoting tourism and community identity. While I have been a strong advocate for the creation and use of passports at the local, county, and regional basis for schools and tourism, I only now have realized the potential funding opportunity with the latest round of funding through the Regional Economic Development Councils (REDC).
This epiphany began at the annual conference of the Association of Public Historians in New York State in Corning in April. On the display table there was a pile of Adirondack Coast Cultural Alliance passports. [Read more…] about Funding A History Passport Program
An excellent meeting was held on April 7 at the Wallace Center, Hyde Park with the history community in the Hudson Valley and Meghan Taylor, the new director for the Mid-Hudson Region Economic Development Council (REDC).
The subject of the meeting was MONEY: what funding does New York State have and how can the history community apply for it? A second purpose was to introduce Meghan to the history community and the community to her. [Read more…] about Applying For History Money From New York State
I attended The New York Times Travel Show at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City in January, as a member of the press for The New York History Blog. The event included a special session, “Focus on New York State Destinations,” moderated by Tim Lewis, of Viator Inc.
The company apparently has been hired by ILoveNY to promote tours in New York State. Its website lists 19 tours in New York at present: 16 in Manhattan and three to Niagara Falls, including one-day trips from the New York City. There is a two-day bus trip to Niagara Falls from New York with a “Bargain shop at one of the large outlet malls on the way back to New York.” New York State history does not appear to be a prominent part of its tour packages at present. Again, it should be noted, the company was hired to promote New York State tourism not history tourism in New York State. [Read more…] about Peter Feinman: Create Pathfinders In Your Region
This post is part of a continuing series on discerning the actual policies of New York State regarding promoting history by following the money it awards through the Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) process.
The focus in this post is on where the State awards money in support of cooperation and collaboration. In other words, the awards here aren’t for a specific event or site but are more sweeping in scope. They seek to support multiple organizations and entities working together on behalf of a larger goal than any one group could achieve on its own. There are lessons to be learned here for the history community which is not the recipient of any of these awards. [Read more…] about REDC Awards Nurture Infrastructure, Ignore History
This is the seventh in a series of posts on the awards granted by the Regional Economic Development Councils (REDC). The Path through History received short shrift in the awards process, but there were history-related awards nonetheless.
These awards tended to be issued by the New York States Council on the Arts and the New York State Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) in accordance with policies created before Path through History was launched. In this post, we focus on the awards for another type of tourism: Art Tourism. [Read more…] about The REDC’s Art Tourism Funding