Objective 1Increase equitable funding and support for culture, especially in historically underserved communities
Objective 2Cultivate inclusive practices in the cultural sector
Objective 3Strengthen connections between the cultural sector and government
Objective 4Address the affordability crisis for the cultural community
Objective 5Provide high quality arts education for all New York City public school students
Strategy ACreate opportunities for dialogue and partnership between the City and cultural organizations to address the needs of diverse communities
References: EQ_4.B, EQ_5.A, HS_3.D,
ActionsAction 1Released Arts and Cultural Inventories for Bushwick, Far Rockaway, and Morissania through the Building Community Capacity program, where community-based development organizations and cultural nonprofits collaborated to survey arts and culture engagement as reported by neighborhood residents.
Action 2Recruited over 50 cultural organizations to offer free membership and discount benefits to New Yorkers of all immigration status via the IDNYC identification card in its fifth year of implementation.
Action 3Recruited 44 cultural organizations to offer free membership benefits to New Yorkers of all immigration status via the IDNYC identification card.
Action 4Recruited 43 cultural organizations to offer free membership benefits to New Yorkers of all immigration status via the IDNYC identification card.
Action 5Launched the Arts and Civics Fund, in partnership with the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City, DemocracyNYC, the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, and the Mayor's Office of Strategic Partnerships, to promote civic learning and discourse among NYC youth through the arts.
Action 6Engaged over 1,000 youth ages 10-20 through Step It Up, a program led by the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) in collaboration with cultural organizations, which offered performing arts experiences as a means to build community leadership capacity.
Action 7Invited the public to discuss critical issues in arts and culture through the ongoing series, "Office Hours with the Commissioner.”
Action 8Convened, in partnership with the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs, Artspace Sanctuary, and No Longer Empty, over 250 arts professionals for "What Can We Do? Immigration Summit for Cultural Organizations" to discuss immigrant rights in the culture sector.
Strategy BInclude arts and culture in the City’s neighborhood and resiliency planning
References: AF_1.A, AF_1.B, NC_1.A, NC_4.A, CC_1.D, SE_4.A, NC_2.B, NC_4.B,
ActionsAction 1Provided recommendations and engaged cultural stakeholders for the Envision SoHo/NoHo report, led by the Department of City Planning, Manhattan Borough President office and City Council to address pressing challenges in these neighborhoods.
Action 2Awarded $95,000 to El Museo del Barrio to implement arts and culture recommendations from the East Harlem Neighborhood Plan.
Action 3Participated, for the first time, in public engagements about arts and culture in neighborhood rezoning with communities including Soho/Noho, Downtown Far Rockaway, Brownsville, Gowanus, Bushwick, and Long Island City.
Strategy CLeverage Cultural Affairs' support to open new pathways to other public funding and resources
References: CC_2.A, CC_1.C, CC_1.D, HS_1.D, HS_2.C,
ActionsAction 1Arranged the first-ever, offsite materials distribution event for Staten Island schools, by which DCLA's Material for the Arts program delivered two tons of free art materials and school supplies to over 30 public schools in Staten Island’s District #31 to better serve students in the outermost boroughs.
Action 2Continued the Mayor's Grant for Cultural Impact, which awarded $500,000 to ten new and expanded partnerships between cultural organizations and municipal agencies designed to use arts and culture to reach underserved and vulnerable New Yorkers.
Action 3Partnered with American for the Arts and SMU DataArts to survey and analyze the impact of COVID-19 on the City's nonprofit cultural sector. Results from this survey will help inform relief and advocacy efforts for New York City’s diverse cultural sector.
Action 4In support of the City's larger pandemic response, arranged special donations of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), as well as household and arts supplies for city agencies such as DOE's Regional Enrichment Centers, NYC Parks and Recreation, Health + Hospitals, Administration of Children Services, and Department of Homeless Services.
Action 5While the warehouse was closed to the public due to the pandemic, MFTA continued to provide limited access to MFTA donated materials through newly created services such as "Curbside Pickup" and "Personal Shopper."
Action 6Launched the first-ever MFTA Citywide Tour, distributing free art and office supplies throughout the five boroughs, targeting areas that might have a harder time accessing transportation to MFTA's warehouse in Long Island City.
Action 7Materials for the Arts offered high end and casual clothing donated by the film, media and entertainment industry to the Administration for Children's Services (ACS), asylum seekers in NYC, and children and families in shelters.
Action 8Materials for the Arts partnered with the DOE's Office of Sustainability to collect items no longer needed at schools, to prevent them from going into landfill, and offered the items to others schools in need.
Action 9Materials for the Arts offered additional free field trips to Title I schools in the 5 boroughs to promote Creative Reuse and environmental sustainability to NYC DOE schools.
Action 10Launched the Mayor's Grant for Cultural Impact, which awarded $350,000 to seven innovative partnerships between cultural organizations and municipal agencies designed to use arts and culture to reach underserved and vulnerable New Yorkers.
Action 11Expanded the Mayor's Grant for Cultural Impact, which awarded $500,000 to ten new and expanded partnerships between cultural organizations and municipal agencies designed to use arts and culture to reach underserved and vulnerable New Yorkers.
Action 12Co-hosted, with the Department of Education, a training workshop introducing organizations to the process of contracting with public schools to deliver cultural services.
Action 13Facilitated NYC's submissions to the National Endowment for the Art's annual Our Town grant program, to encourage cultural organizations to compete for available federal funding to support local creative placemaking.
Strategy DUse existing communication channels to promote nonprofit and for profit cultural offerings
References: EQ_5.B, SE_2.E, NC_2.A, HS_3.A, HS_3.F, AF_1.D,
ActionsAction 1Partnered with NYC & Company and the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment to launch Virtual NYC Curator Collections, an online portal showcasing a diverse array of current virtual programming curated by the City’s leading cultural voices.
Action 2Modified Material for the Arts' Third Thursday and gallery programs to offer online artist talks and virtual gallery experiences, as a response to the Covid-19 outbreak. MFTA will continue to make programming accessible online to support those that are unable to physically come to the warehouse.
Action 3Created a 3D virtual tour of Materials for the Arts allowing users to take a self-guided tour of the MFTA warehouse, classrooms, gallery, and artist studio.
Action 4For the first time, offered a virtual walkthrough of MFTA's Artist in Residence exhibition, presenting Tijay Mohammend.
Action 5Launched a monthly e-newsletter to share the latest on DCLA’s programs and funding opportunities with a readership of over 4,000 subscribers.