Buffalo, N.Y., June 18, 2026 — The Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, on behalf of the Oliver G. & Sarah Sloan Bauman Fund for the Arts, announced that seven Western New York nonprofit organizations have recently received grant awards between $5,000 – $10,000. The Bauman Fund for the Arts administers grants annually to Western New York organizations that specialize in the areas of traditional classical ballet and opera. The total awarded for the 2026 grant cycle was more than $58,000.
Recipients of the 2026 Bauman Fund for the Arts grants include:
- Ballet Artists of WNY, Inc., $10,000 to support The Nutcracker
- Buffalo Opera Unlimited, $8,000 to support Viardot’s Cendrillion
- Buffalo Urban League, $10,000 to expand access to classical opera: A Black History Month Performance
- Chautauqua Regional Youth Ballet, $8,000 to support the full-length Nutcracker Ballet
- Genesee-Orlean Regional Arts Council, $12,656 to support Le Réveil de Flore: A Classical Ballet Revival in Western New York
- Greater Niagara Ballet Company, $5,000 to support The Nutcracker 2026
- Opera-Lytes, $5,040 to support Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld
The Oliver G. and Sarah Sloan Bauman Fund for the Arts was established as an endowment at the Community Foundation in 1996 by Sarah Bauman Baxter as a unique way to memorialize her father by including his name in her own fund. Endowment funds are designed to grow over time and provide funding for charitable causes according to a client’s wishes, forever. Mrs. Baxter and her father shared a love of the classics, including classical languages, ballet and opera. At the end of her life, she translated that love into this bequest which Mrs. Baxter said should help “perpetuate the appreciation of such fine arts as an important and integral part of our culture.”
Since the Bauman Fund for the Arts was established 30 years ago, it has awarded more than $1,200,000 to Western New York nonprofit organizations for the benefit of the region’s arts and cultural communities and has ensured that the classical traditions of ballet and opera are a consistent part of our region’s cultural heritage. For more information on the Bauman Fund for the Arts grant process, please visit: www.cfgb.org/nonprofits/grants/bauman-fund-for-the-arts/.
About the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo
For more than a century, the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo has enhanced and encouraged long-term philanthropy in the Western New York community. A 501 (c)(3) organization, the Community Foundation’s mission is: Connecting people, ideas and resources to improve lives in Western New York. Established in 1919, the Community Foundation has made the most of the generosity of individuals, families, foundations and organizations who entrust charitable assets to the Community Foundation’s care. Learn more at cfgb.org.