HAUPPAUGE - Suffolk County Executive Steven Levy proposed legislation at the March 4 general meeting of the Suffolk County Legislature that would provide over $615,000 of funding to various Suffolk County arts and cultural organizations.

“The cultural arts contribute vastly to our quality of life, but they also invigorate our economy and downtown corridors,” said Levy. “These funds are a needed boost to the not-for-profit organizations that enhance our culture and economy here in Suffolk.”

The funding resolution, eligible to be voted on by the Suffolk County Legislature as early as March 18, would provide the bulk of the money through a dedicated funding stream: the County’s hotel/motel room tax fund for non-profit museums and cultural groups that promote tourism in Suffolk County.

Under the hotel/motel room tax funding, the following organizations will be funded:

• Arena Players Repertory Theatre of L.I. ($20,000)
• Art League of Long Island ($5,000)
• Atlantic Wind Symphony ($5,000)
• Babylon Citizens’ Council on the Arts ($18,000)
• Bay Street Theatre Festival ($17,600)
• Bridgehampton Chamber Music Association ($5,000)
• Bridgehampton Historical Society ($5,000)
• Brookhaven Arts and Humanities Council ($7,000)
• Byrd Hoffman Water Mill Foundation ($7,000)
• Children’s Museum of the East End ($5,000)
• Cinema Arts Centre/New Community Cinema ($20,000)
• East End Arts and Humanities Council ($24,000)
• Friends of the Bay Shore/Brightwaters Library ($5,000)
• Greater Port Jefferson Arts Council ($19,200)
• Guild Hall of East Hampton ($7,200)
• Hallockville ($13,672)
• Heckscher Museum ($15,600)
• Huntington Arts Council ($22,000)
• Inter-Media Art Center ($20,500)
• Islip Arts Council ($23,000)
• Long House Reserve ($5,000)
• Long Island Philharmonic ($8,000)
• Museums at Stony Brook – L.I. Museum of American Art, History & Carriages ($20,000)
• Oysterponds Historical Society ($5,000)
• Parrish Art Museum ($8,000)
• Patchogue Theater for the Performing Arts ($8,800)
• Smithtown Township Arts Council ($17,396)
• Society for the Preservation of L.I. Antiquities ($5,000)
• Stony Brook Foundation/Pollock-Krasner House ($7,000)
• Theatre Three Productions ($15,000)
• Walt Whitman Birthplace Association ($13,600)
• Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center ($20,000)
• Whaling Museum Society ($6,100)

The county will also provide funding to the following organizations through its General Fund:

• Babylon Citizens Council on the Arts ($15,000)
• Brookhaven Arts and Humanities Council ($15,000)
• East End Arts Council ($15,000)
• Fire Island Golden Wagon Film Festival ($9,000)
• Greater Port Jefferson-Northern Brookhaven Arts Council ($15,000)
• Hamptons International Film Festival ($15,000)
• Huntington Arts Council ($15,000)
• Islip Arts Council ($15,000)
• Long Island Wine Council ($25,000)
• Renew Media ($27,500; for filmmaking grants)
• Sanna Mattson MacLeod ($13,000; for Film Commission website and marketing)
• Smithtown Township Arts Council ($15,000)
• Stony Brook Film Festival ($12,500)
• Stony Brook Southampton ($5,000)