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.

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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 2023

Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, Inc.
$50,000
To build a blueprint for establishing and maintaining a healthy technical theatre and production workforce

Bronx Children's Museum
$125,000 (over two years)
To support the next phase of the Museum's work with children, families, and schools

Bronx Council on the Arts
$120,000 (over two years)
To provide capacity building support

Cool Culture, Inc.
$100,000 (over two years)
To provide flexible operating support for improvements in technology, staffing, and programs that deepen connections with and among families, museums, and educators

The Harlem School of the Arts, Inc.
$150,000 (over two years)
For development and implementation of its Digital Access Programming 

Kinetic Light
$50,000
For a strategic plan

SoHarlem, Inc.
$80,000 (over two years)
To help support the adaptation and continued implementation of its strategic plan

The Studio in a School Association, Inc.
$120,000 (over two years)
For capacity building in support of its professional development activity and efforts to catalogue and disseminate its archives and learning materials

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 2023

ArtsConnection, Inc.
$50,000
To support the Teen Reviewers and Critics (TRaC) program, the OnTRaC college and career readiness program, and the Teen Advisory Council's youth-led participatory action research project 

Beam Center Inc.
$100,000 (over two years)
To support the expansion of the Project Leaders Enterprise program

Brooklyn Conservatory of Music
$70,000 (over two years)
To expand the Community Music Center Initiative

Casita Maria Inc.
$100,000 (over two years)
To support K-12 creative youth development and arts education programming

CitySquash
$35,000
To support its comprehensive youth development program

Jazz at Lincoln Center, Inc.
$50,000
To support the Middle School Jazz Academy and High School Jazz Academy

The Noel Pointer Foundation
$100,000 (over two years)
To support the On-Campus Strings program

STEM From Dance
$35,000
To support program expansion in New York City

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