$2.1 Million in Arts Funding for Groups

The Wall Street Journal - September 16, 2010
By Pia Catton

The Department of Cultural Affairs and the Department of City Planning will announce on Thursday the 15 recipients of $2.1 million in grants from the Theater Subdistrict Council, the nonprofit organization founded to support the area between Sixth and Eighth avenues from West 40th to West 57th streets.

The awards come from a fund that is administered by TSC and was created after the 1998 zoning rule that allowed Broadway theaters to sell their air rights. Under the terms of the fund, the grants can be awarded to efforts that promote new works, new audiences or the history of New York's role in theater.

Now in its second round of grant-making, the TSC is chaired by Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate Levin. While some of the grants will support operations that are familiar to theater fans--from Lincoln Center Theater to Playwrights Horizons to the Broadway League--others will go to groups with lower profiles.

Among them is the 52nd Street Project, an arts and mentoring program for children ages 9 to 18 who live in Hell's Kitchen. The organization recently moved into a new facility that includes a theater and an after-school center, where children can participate in programs or simply do their homework.

"The grant comes at a critical time in our growth," said the executive director of the 52nd Street Project, Carol Ochs.

This is the first year that the Project has received TSC funding. Its grant, which totals $100,000, will be used to support after-school offerings and a teen employment program. "All of the work we do results in some kind of public presentations," Ms. Ochs said. "All of the kids are young potential theatergoers."

A $200,000 grant will go to Fractured Atlas, a nonprofit organization that facilitates art by providing artists access to funding, health-care and information. According to the group's founder and executive director, Adam Huttler, the TSC grant will support Fractured Atlas's Creative Economy Workspace Initiative. Central to this project is the creation of a software system that identifies available rehearsal space in New York City, as well as an analysis of the supply and demand.

"There are empty community spaces out there that could be used by performing arts groups and could be a revenue stream for churches or community centers," Mr. Huttler said.

The Theater Development Fund, which operates the TKTS booth in Times Square, will also receive a $200,000 grant for the second year of its New Audiences for New York initiative. The program facilitates theater outings and tickets for audiences that are under-represented in theater. "What this means is that we can bring in another 20 groups, but also work with the first groups to become independent theatergoers," said the group's executive director, Victoria Bailey.

TSC grants will also be awarded to: the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, Apollo Theater Foundation, Atlantic Theater Company, Lark Play Development Center, the New 42nd Street, Rosie's Broadway Kids, Roundabout Theatre Company, Signature Theatre Company and the Walker International Communications Group.

The TSC consists of the Mayor, the Speaker of City Council, the Manhattan Borough President and the Director of the Department of City Planning, as well as four representatives from the performing arts appointed by the Mayor and the City Council Speaker.