NYSCA FUNDING UP 10.4 PERCENT IN STATE ADOPTED BUDGET
State funding for NYSCA, the New York State Council on the Arts, increased 10.4 percent this year in the adopted New York State budget--totaling $47.2 million. This sum includes $2 million for collections' image digitization and $500,000 for a pilot sustainability project to create cash reserve funds for small and mid-sized theater organizations.

NEW YORK CITY BUDGET TO BE ADOPTED THIS MONTH

Public hearings on the Department of Cultural Affairs budget for FY2007 were held beginning Thursday, June 8. The City budget must be adopted by the City Council Finance Committee at the end of June. As previously reported, the Executive Budget allowed for an increase of $12 million in energy support for City institutions to the DCA's baseline, bringing the total proposed DCA budget to $114 million.

WARHOL FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES ARTS WRITING INITIATIVE
The Warhol Foundation has announced The Andy Warhol Arts Writing Initiative, a three-year, $3 million program to support independent, progressive arts publications and individual arts writers. The objective of the program is to encourage journalists and other writers to cover the cultural field. For more information, click here.

NEWS AT THE ALLIANCE SECOND ANNUAL ALLIANCE FOR THE ARTS PRIZE

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Diane Mulcahy Coffey and Peter Solomon

The second Alliance for the Arts Prize was presented to Diane Mulcahy Coffey on May 23 at a dinner dance for 300 guests at the Rainbow Room. Mayor Bloomberg and former Mayors Koch and Dinkins paid tribute to Ms. Coffey, who was instrumental in the development of City cultural policy and of the Cultural Affairs Department, and has advised public officials for many years. She serves on a number of cultural boards, including Jazz at Lincoln Center, Lincoln Center and the Municipal Art Society. The event raised more than $430,000 for the Alliance's work in advocacy, promotion and research. For more pictures of the event, click here.

Works by 11 New York City and international artists, raised additional funds for the Alliance.

CITYWIDE BUS SHELTERS TO PROMOTE CULTURE IN NEW YORK CITY
On June 19, the Alliance will launch a marketing campaign promoting culture in all five boroughs, encouraging New Yorkers to visit the best their city has to offer. This campaign is done in partnership with the NYC Marketing office, our partners and sponsors in promoting the arts via NYC-ARTS.org and our summer calendar: DCA, NYC & Company, NYSCA, I LOVE NY, American Express, The New York Times. Special thanks to the creative team at Ogilvy & Mather, which has generously donated its services in creating the campaign.

CALENDAR GLOBAL CREATIVE ECONOMY SUMMIT IN PHILADELPHIA JUNE 12-14
The Global Creative Economy Summit, sponsored by the University for the Arts, will be held from June 12-14 at the Park Hyatt Philadelphia. Of the featured presenters speaking on the creative global economy are Christo and Jeanne-Claude, the creators of the installation The Gates in Central Park last year. For more information on the summit, click here.

28th ANNUAL MUSEUM MILE FESTIVAL JUNE 13
On June 13, from 6-9 p.m., Fifth Avenue will be a pedestrian zone from 82nd to 105th Streets for the 28th annual Museum Mile Festival. Participants will be able to to partake in a number of free street arts activities, and to visit nine cultural institutions free of charge: Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution; the Goethe-Institut/German Cultural Center; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; the Jewish Museum; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; El Museo del Barrio; the Museum of the City of New York; National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts and the Neue Galerie New York. For more details go to www.museummilefestival.org.

GENERATION ENGAGE ARTS FORUM EVENT JUNE 14
Spike Lee, the director and filmmaker, and Michael Arad, the World Trade Center Memorial architect, will be the keynote speakers at the Generation Engage Arts Forum on June 14 from 7-9 p.m. at P.S.1 Contemporary Arts Center in Queens. The topic of the forum will be social change through artistic expression. For more information on the event or on Generation Engage, visit www.generationengage.org. To RSVP for this free event, e-mail rsvp@generationengage.org.

SUMMER PLAY FESTIVAL OPENS JULY 5
Summer Play Festival's (SPF) third annual play series runs July 5-30. The series features a total of 15 shows during the course of the month. For details on SPF and the works being presented click here. Members of the Alliance's Friends of the Arts, the advocacy support group that makes our Wagner Fellowship and other advocacy and public policy work possible, receive free admission for selected dates. For information, contact Esther McGowan at (212) 947-6340 or emcgowan@allianceforarts.org. For details on how to become a Friend of the Arts click here.

COMING NEXT MONTH: CITY OF CULTURE
On July 19 the Center for Architecture opens City of Culture: New Architecture for the Arts, an exhibition organized by the Alliance for the Arts. It will run until September 7.