The Foundation has had a longstanding interest in the arts, reflecting Benjamin Altman’s personal commitment and our belief in the essential role that cultural engagement and the arts play in enriching the lives of New Yorkers and creating new avenues of exploration and opportunity for the city’s young people. Given our particular focus on issues of access and inclusion, the Foundation invests in organizations, programs, and projects that achieve results aligned with the objectives outlined below. As a general rule, the programs that we support take place outside of the public schools. Please note that the "Results Sought" reflect the specific outcomes of interest to us.

Promote access to arts and culture for all New Yorkers, with a special focus on people from underserved communities

Results Sought:

  1. Increase sustained engagement and participation of underserved populations in high-quality programming at established arts and cultural organizations
  2. Strengthen the arts infrastructure in the city and build capacity at critical junctures for organizations providing high-quality arts and cultural programming
Grants 2015

The 52nd Street Project, Inc.
$35,000
To help support the "Fund for the Future" Campaign

The ArtsConnection, Inc.
$35,000
To help support the Take 5 and Teen Reviewers and Critics (TRaC) programs

Ballet Hispanico of New York, Inc.
$25,000
To help support its School of Dance and scholarship program for talented and underserved students

Ballet Tech Foundation, Inc.
$35,000
To help support Ballet Tech's program of pre-professional dance training for underserved youth

Bronx Children's Museum
$50,000
To help provide capacity building funds to continue the development of the new children's museum in the Bronx

Brooklyn Botanic Garden Corporation
$100,000 (over two years)
To help support the Garden Apprentice program for middle and high school youth

The Carter Burden Center for the Aging, Inc. (aka Carter Burden Network)
$35,000
To provide planning support for an an impact study of Arts Intervention for Seniors in East Harlem

The Center for Arts Education, Inc.
$50,000
To help support CAE's public engagement and advocacy initiative to build support for and expand arts education in the schools

Cool Culture, Inc.
$45,000
To help expand the Family Leaders Program as a component of Literacy Through Culture and Family Explorers Club's efforts to promote emergent literacy, parental involvement, meaningful partnerships between arts and cultural institutions and early education centers, and family visits to those institutions

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution
$150,000 (over two years)
To help support DesignPrep, the Cooper-Hewitt's design education and career preparation program for underserved New York City high school students

Dancewave, Inc.
$35,000 (over fifteen months)
To provide capacity building support to design and implement a marketing/outreach campaign in preparation for the creation of the new Dancewave Center in downtown Brooklyn

Friends of the High Line, Inc.
$50,000
To provide capacity building support for the Public Programs department and its initiatives to expand activities for local adults

Governors Island Corporation dba The Trust for Governors Island
$150,000 (over two years)
To help support the new position, Director of OpenHouseGI, to oversee and lead the Trust's public programming department

The Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City
$50,000
To help support a new initiative of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and Materials for the Arts that will provide professional development for center-based Pre-Kindergarten teachers and access to free materials for their classrooms

The Museum of the City of New York, Inc.
$200,000 (over two years)
To help provide capacity-building support for their new digital department by hiring a Web Developer, a Multi-media Producer, and a Customer Relationship Management Systems Analyst, and to make improvements to their website

The New-York Historical Society
$75,000 (over 18 months)
To help strengthen N-YHS's educational programs through a comprehensive independent evaluation

The New York Public Library
$200,000 (over three years)
To help support the NYPL's Adult Learning Centers (ALCS)

Orchestra of St. Luke's/St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, Inc.
$35,000
To help support the Youth Orchestra of St. Luke's

The Queens Borough Public Library
$150,000 (over fourteen months)
To help support Kickoff to Kindergarten (K2K) and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)

Queens Council on the Arts, Inc.
$40,000
To provide capacity building support to help Queens Council on the Arts draft a plan to guide its future, increase its impact, strengthen its visual brand, and support the cultural diversity of Queens

Queens Museum of Art New York City Building
$100,000
To help support the Art and Literacy for New New Yorkers program

Wave Hill Incorporated
$100,000 (over two years)
To help provide capacity building support for a Strategic Review and Planning process that will result in a Strategic Plan, Site Utilization Plan, and Digital Engagement Strategy

Whitney Museum of American Art
$85,000
To provide capacity building support for the Whitney's community programs

Promote positive youth development among underserved youth through engagement in arts, cultural, and other unique programs that provide sequential opportunities to participate over an extended period of time.

Results Sought:

  1. Significantly increase mastery of program-specific competencies and developmentally appropriate life skills
  2. Prepare participants to transition successfully to post-secondary and/or professional opportunities, including employment in the creative economy
Grants 2015

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
$50,000
To help support the Saturday and Outreach Programs for New York City public high school students

Figure Skating in Harlem, Inc.
$100,000 (over two years)
To provide general support for its sports and academic program

Jazz at Lincoln Center, Inc.
$75,000
To help provide both direct service and capacity-building support for the Middle School Jazz Academy for young people from underserved communities in New York City

New Heights Youth, Inc.
$40,000
To help support the College Bound Program

Peter Westbrook Foundation, Inc.
$35,000
To help support the Academic Enrichment Program

Publicolor, Inc.
$90,000 (over two years)
To help support the COLOR Club, Next Steps and Summer Design Studio programs

Rocking the Boat, Inc.
$112,000 (over two years)
$50,000 each year to provide general operating support for this youth development organization; and an additional $12,000 in the first year to upgrade the current data system, migrate data, and train staff

Staten Island Children's Museum
$25,000
To help support the Museum Intern and Ambassador Program

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