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:
Amigos del Museo del Barrio, Inc.
$50,000
To provide capacity building support for El Museo's education programs and services, including the new initiative, 'The Curious Life'
ArtsConnection, Inc.
$25,000
To help support the Take 5 and the Teen Reviewers and Critics (TRaC) programs
Ballet Hispanico of New York, Inc.
$25,000
To help support the need-based scholarship program at the School of Dance for talented low-income youth, and the recruitment and retention of students from underserved communities and/or low-income families
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 this new children's museum in the Bronx
Brooklyn Academy of Music, Inc.
$50,000
To continue and expand BAM's three-year evaluation initiative, in partnership with the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research, to measure and ensure the effectiveness of BAM Education programming
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 support Literacy Through Culture, which offers professional development to early childhood educators and free access to the arts for families from low-income communities
The Harlem School of the Arts, Inc.
$50,000
To provide capacity building support
International Center of Photography
$40,000
To help support need-based scholarships and the retention and advancement of scholarship recipients in the Teen Academy and advanced-level Imagemakers programs
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc.
$50,000
To help support Phase 2 of the 'Lincoln Center Local: Free Screenings', designed to bring digitally streamed Lincoln Center performance content to library branches in all five boroughs
The New York Botanical Garden
$175,000 (over two years)
To help support the Children's Education program
Orchestra of St. Luke's/St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, Inc.
$35,000
To help support and expand the Youth Orchestra of St. Luke's, an immersive music program for children and youth from underserved backgrounds
The Queens Borough Public Library
$150,000
To help build capacity and provide support for Kickoff to Kindergarten (K2K) and English for Speakers of Others Languages (ESOL)
Third Street Music School Settlement
$90,000 (over two years)
To provide capacity-building support, focused on the Ensemble Development and Performance Initiative, and related visibility and fundraising goals
Whitney Museum of American Art
$25,000
To provide capacity building support to help develop and pilot community-based educational programming for the Whitney's new downtown site
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:
Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Inc.
$90,000 (over three years)
To help support the Ailey School Scholarship Program and the Ailey Athletic Boys Program
Brooklyn Youth Chorus Academy, Inc.
$150,000 (over two years)
To help support the Choral Music Education and Performance Program, and provide capacity building support to help implement further key elements of BYCA's Strategic Plan
Center for Family Life in Sunset Park
$50,000
To help support the Center's Life Lines Community Arts project for underserved youth
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
Downtown Community Television Center, Inc.
$90,000 (over two years)
To help support PRO-TV, which provides professional media training to inner-city youth
Groundswell Community Mural Project, Inc.
$30,000
To help support afterschool and summer programming for underserved youth and related program improvement efforts
Hunts Point Alliance for Children
$75,000 (over two years)
As a final grant to help support HPAC's arts and academic youth development programming
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
Mind-Builders Creative Arts Company, Inc.
$40,000
As a final capacity building grant to help Mind-Builders expand its youth development training for staff and refine its evaluation practice
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
Queens Council on the Arts, Inc.
$50,000 (over two years)
To help support the High School to Art School (HS2AS) initiative
Riverdale Neighborhood House, Inc.
$45,000 (over two years)
As a final grant to help support the Youth Internship Program and its Library Leaders component
Row New York, Inc.
$100,000 (over two years)
To provide general operating support for rowing and academic programs in New York City
Staten Island Children's Museum
$25,000
To help support the Museum Intern and Ambassador Program
The Young People's Chorus of New York City, Inc.
$30,000
As a final grant to help support the after-school choral music education and performance program, and enhancements in program and organizational infrastructure