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:
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.
$40,000
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 complete the pre-site development phase and first year of exhibit and site development for this new children's museum in the Bronx
The Center for Arts Education, Inc.
$25,000
To help support CAE's public engagement and advocacy initiative to build support for and expand arts education in the schools
Cool Culture, Inc.
$40,000
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.
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution
$170,000 (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
International Center of Photography
$50,000
To support Teen Academy and the advanced-level Imagemakers program
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc.
$50,000
To help support the implementation and systematization of a system of evaluation metrics for the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center
Mama Foundation for the Arts, Inc.
$20,000
To help support the Gospel for Teens program
The Museum of the City of New York, Inc.
$100,000 (over two years)
To help support the redesign of the Web site, increase public access to MCNY's online resources, and continue to increase outreach to underrepresented communities through the use of new digital media
Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust
$35,000
As a final grant to help support the High School Apprenticeship Program
The New 42nd Street Inc.
$50,000
As a final grant to help support the Youth Corps Program
The New York Botanical Garden
$300,000 (over three years)
To help support the Children's Education program
New York Hall of Science
$75,000
To help support revitalization of Early Childhood programs and exhibits
The Queens Borough Public Library
$450,000 (over three years)
To help support English for Speakers of Other Languages, the Family Literacy Program and the Youth Workforce Development Program
Whitney Museum of American Art
$50,000 (over two years)
To provide capacity building support to help develop and pilot community-based educational programming for the Whitney's new downtown site
Young Audiences New York, Inc.
$40,000
To help support the FamilyLink program
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
ArtsConnection, Inc.
$25,000
To help support the Take 5 and the Teen Reviewers and Critics (TRaC) programs
Brooklyn Botanic Garden Corporation
$100,000 (over two years)
To help support the Garden Apprentice Program for middle and high school youth
Center for Family Life in Sunset Park
$50,000
To help support the Center's Life Lines Community Arts project for underserved youth
The CityKids Foundation, Inc.
$35,000
To help support the CityKids performing arts program for inner-city youth
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
$50,000
To help support the Saturday Outreach Programs for New York City public high school students
Coro New York Leadership Center
$35,000
To help support Exploring Leadership, a program to promote meaningful civic leadership among inner-city high school youth
Downtown Community Television Center, Inc.
$40,000
To help support PRO-TV, which provides professional media training to inner-city youth
Education Through Music, Inc.
$75,000 (over two years)
To help support the hiring of a new staff member responsible for managing evaluation activities
Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center/Lucy Moses School for Music & Dance
$40,000
To help support high-quality music classes for underserved students in the Young People's Division
Figure Skating in Harlem, Inc.
$80,000 (over two years)
To provide general support to this sports and academic program
Groundswell Community Mural Project, Inc.
$10,000
To help support afterschool programs for underserved youth
Jazz at Lincoln Center, Inc.
$75,000
To help support the Middle School Jazz Academy for young people from underserved communities
New Heights Youth, Inc.
$70,000 (over two years)
To help support the College Bound Program
Peter Westbrook Foundation, Inc.
$35,000
To help support the Academic Enrichment Program
Publicolor, Inc.
$30,000
To help support the COLOR Club, Next Steps, and Next Steps Prep programs
Queens Council on the Arts, Inc.
$40,000 (over two years)
To help support the High School to Art School (HS2AS) initiative
Riverdale Neighborhood House, Inc.
$25,000
To help support the Youth Internship Program
Rocking the Boat, Inc.
$100,000 (over two years)
To provide general support to this youth development organization
Row New York, Inc.
$35,000
To help support the Empowerment through Rowing and Academics (ERA) Program for girls and young women in New York City
Staten Island Children's Museum
$25,000
To help support the Museum Internship and Ambassador Program
StreetSquash, Inc.
$35,000
To help support the College Access and Beyond Program
Third Street Music School Settlement
$45,000
To help support the Comprehensive Training in Music Program
The Young People's Chorus of New York City, Inc.
$25,000
To help support the after-school choral music education and performance program