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:
ArtsPool, a project of Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, Inc.
$100,000
Divided as follows: $50,000 to support ArtsPool's efforts to fully roll out two new, more flexible and affordable services and $50,000 to help ArtsPool to establish an operating reserve fund
The Billie Holiday Theatre, Inc.
$150,000 (over two years)
To support the continued expansion and integration of education programs and the creation of a comprehensive platform that connects individuals at multiple life stages to world-class art making and creative expression
Brooklyn Arts Council, Inc.
$75,000
To help the five borough arts councils collaboratively plan for and begin to conduct an equity-focused audit of their grantmaking practices
Community-Word Project (CWP)
$70,000 (over two years)
To support the professional development of teaching artists through the Teaching Artist Project (TAP) and the TAP Cohort
Gina Gibney Dance
$150,000 (over two years)
For capacity building support to help Gibney address the complexities, safety concerns, and newfound priorities and requirements associated with reopening its two physical locations in the wake of COVID-19
Jazz at Lincoln Center, Inc.
$50,000
To help support the Middle School Jazz Academy
New York City Arts in Education Roundtable
$50,000
For capacity building support
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Inc.
$25,000
To continue the implementation of its first comprehensive strategic plan, with a focus on developing collaborative partnerships, providing training and mentorship opportunities to underserved communities, and increasing visibility in New York City
Queens Museum of Art (dba Queens Museum)
$75,000 (over fifteen months)
To support New New Yorkers, an ongoing arts and literacy initiative for recent adult immigrants, including adaptations to online and in-person programming
Sphinx Organization, Inc.
$40,000 (over fifteen months)
To help support and grow the capacity, sustainability, and impact of the Sphinx Organization's New York partnerships
The Studio in a School Association, Inc.
$60,000
To help support refinements in Studio in a School New York City’s programs, curricula, and infrastructure
Theatre of the Oppressed NYC
$25,000 (over eighteen months)
To support the development of a new strategic plan
Visual Arts Research and Resource Center Relating to the Caribbean dba Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute
$75,000
For general operating support
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:
Beam Center Inc.
$50,000
To provide general operating support for Beam Center’s work with NYC Youth
CitySquash
$35,000
To support CitySquash’s comprehensive youth development program
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
$50,000
To support an arts intensive, college-preparatory program for New York City high school students from underserved communities
Groundswell Community Mural Project, Inc.
$45,000 (over fifteen months)
To help support Master Studio afterschool and summer programming
Harlem Lacrosse and Leadership
$40,000
To support the year-round delivery of supportive services for its high school lacrosse and academic enrichment program in New York and further the development of the six-week Summer Academy
Hudson River Community Sailing
$40,000
To support the Sail Academy Youth Development Program
Legal Outreach, Inc.
$50,000
To support the development and implementation of the Civic Engagement and Social Justice Program
Mind-Builders Creative Arts Company, Inc.
$75,000 (over two years)
To provide instructional classes, youth leadership activities, and arts-based crisis intervention programs for children and youth in the Bronx
NYC Salt, Inc.
$130,000 (over two years)
To help support capacity building efforts that advance plans for long-term organizational sustainability and program expansion
Peter Westbrook Foundation, Inc.
$25,000 (over fourteen months)
To provide program support for this youth development program anchored by the sport of fencing
Queens Council on the Arts, Inc.
$25,000
To help support the High School to Art School portfolio development program
Reel Works Teen Filmmaking
$50,000
To support MediaMKRS -- a badging credentialing platform and consortium of educators, philanthropy, government, employers and labor unions to create pathways for careers for underrepresented young New Yorkers to join the city's growing media industry
Row New York, Inc.
$120,000 (over two years)
For general operating support
Urban Arts Partnership
$50,000
To support students in the creation of original video games, computer programming, and college enrollment through the School of Interactive Arts afterschool and summer pre-college program