UTICA - Visitors to Utica will soon be able to take in all of the City’s arts and cultural attractions in a single place thanks to a grant award announced this week. Mayor David Roefaro and Downtown Utica Development Association (DUDA) President David Cocomazzi announced the receipt of an Explore NY grant  which will be used to create a website and marketing project to promote Downtown Utica as an arts, culture and heritage destination.
“This is exciting news for Utica,” said DUDA President Dave Cocomazzi. “The project will increase awareness of the abundance, diversity and high quality of arts and cultural offerings available Downtown, while promoting Utica as an arts and culture destination for travelers.”
The “Picture Yourself Downtown” project was originated by DUDA last year, and has already resulted in a four color, eight-page brochure/insert, which was widely distributed via the local daily newspaper, as well as area hotels, restaurants, and businesses.
This initiative will take the concept a step further, and collectively advertise arts and culture organizations outside the area to larger markets that individual organizations can’t afford on their own. The goals of the project are to improve and enhance a favorable image of the arts in Utica; increase awareness of the wide range of arts and cultural offerings available; and promote downtown Utica as an arts and culture destination for travelers both regional and world-wide.
This project will be a combined effort of twenty (20) area arts organizations as well as hotels and motels within the target area. The $7,500 grant, matched by local promotional dollars, will be used for the creation of a website, advertisements, and marketing materials.
This is the first year that the City of Utica has received the Explore NY grant. “This project will help build tourism for Utica by establishing a brand and a destination. It helps to make the city a more desirable place to do business, to visit, and to live,” said Utica Mayor Roefaro. “The collaboration of our cultural organizations toward that goal highlights one of the ways that this can be done from within our own community.”
Explore NY is a New York State program that is administered by Empire State Development (ESD), the state’s economic development agency and steward of the I LOVE NEW YORK tourism campaign. This program is designed to encourage integrated, thematic approaches to tourism promotion. Utica was one of 36 New York communities to receive an award from the program.

For more information on the Explore NY program or the “Picture Yourself Here” project please visit: www.iloveny.com or www.downtownutica.com.