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ISSUE
18 |
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| The
Alliance for the Arts serves the entire cultural community
through research and advocacy and serves the public through
cultural guides and calendars. |
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NYC
ARTS SUMMER CALENDAR AND WEB RE-LAUNCH 
The Alliance
will publish the summer 2004 edition of NYC ARTS Cultural
Guide & Calendar on May 26. Published annually since
1996, NYC ARTS is the most complete listing of cultural
events available in print and lists events from May 27 through
mid-September. It is distributed free at key points throughout
the city, including airports, hotels, visitors centers, libraries
and cultural institutions. The New York Times will again include
the guide in a targeted home delivery on Wednesday, May 26,
2004.
The sponsors and partners of NYC ARTS are the City
of New York, American Express, The New York Times, I Love
NY and the Liman Foundation.
The Alliance is also re-launching its NYC ARTS Web
site in mid-June. The new Web site will include expanded event
listings, organization profiles and travel directions and
will be the most comprehensive online cultural guide for New
York City.
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ALLIANCE
EXPANDS PUBLIC INFORMATION SERVICES
The Alliance
announces the expansion and overhaul of its public information
services and cultural tourism promotion. Over the next year,
this will include the establishment of a Web-based system
to gather and disseminate the most complete event listings
and program description information available online and in
print. The new Web-based system will also expand coverage
to the rest of New York State in partnership with the New
York State Council on the Arts and I Love NY with support
from Empire State Development Corporation and the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development.
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FOURTH
ANNUAL BENEFIT HONORING MARTIN E. SEGAL
On Monday,
May 10, the Alliance for the Arts held its Fourth Annual Benefit
honoring Martin E. Segal, a life-long champion of the arts
and arts education in New York City. The evening event
brought
together more than 300 guests from the civic, business, cultural
and philanthropic communities and was the Alliance's most
successful benefit to date.
Martin Segal has played a prominent role in the arts community
in New York for decades. He led a civic campaign to establish
the independent Department of Cultural Affairs in the 1970s
and has been a staunch advocate for arts education for the
last 25 years. His dedication was praised by City Council
Speaker Gifford Miller, Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Kate
D. Levin and former chair of the Cultural Affairs Advisory
Commission, Ronay Menschel.
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EARLE
MACK TO FINLAND
Earle
I. Mack, Chairman Emeritus of the New York State Council
on the Arts and former Vice Chairman of the Alliance for the
Arts, has been confirmed as the United States Ambassador to
Finland.
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FUNDING
PARTNERSHIPS
Many of
the Alliance's most successful projects are made possible
by the support of our institutional partners:
American Express. The ninth annual NYC ARTS
guide to summer arts and cultural events is again sponsored
by American Express. American Express is also working with
the Alliance to measure the tangible benefits of cultural
tourism in New York through the new Cultural Tourism Barometer
project.
Citigroup. Already the leading corporate sponsor of
the Alliance's arts education publications, Citigroup has
committed to a second, two-year, $100,000 grant in support
of NYCkidsARTS, in print and online. Featuring the
best programs in arts education available at cultural organizations
throughout the city, NYCkidsARTS is a valuable resource
for teachers, parents and students.
Microsoft. For the second year in a row, Microsoft
has pledged its support of the Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Fellowship
for Public Policy and the Arts. Each year affording a young
professional the opportunity to participate in the civic life
of New York through the Alliance's advocacy work, the Wagner
Fellows play a vital role in advancing the Alliance's mission
of service to the field.
Special thanks to our partners who support the Alliance's
work in its entirety: JPMorgan Chase, Con Edison,
IBM, Joyce and Seward Johnson Foundation, The
New York Times Company, Jerome Robbins Foundation,
May and Samuel Rudin Foundation, Shubert Foundation
and Time Warner.
The Alliance also partners with public agencies:
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. The Alliance
has long been a partner of DCA, whose assistance enables the
publication of NYC ARTS, NYCkidsARTS, and research
on the economic impact of the arts. The Alliance's partnership
with the City extends to work on special publications such
as 2004's Cool New York guide to winter cultural events,
the guide to the 2003 Winter Festival and the guide
to memorial and cultural events marking the one-year anniversary
of September 11th. DCA is the Alliance's key partner in the
Citywide Cultural Database project, a complex data system
that will support both our research and promotion work.
New York State Council on the Arts. Support from NYSCA
has a direct effect on all areas of the Alliance's work—from
publications to research to outreach. The Alliance's partnership
with NYSCA in research goes back to early economic impact
of the arts studies and continues today with a recent examination
of the financial health of the city's arts community. NYSCA
is also a partner in the Alliance's work statewide, beginning
with the 1997 study of the arts' impact on the state's economy
and more recently working in tandem with I Love NY, ensuring
that state-funded cultural destinations can be part of the
State's cultural tourism promotion.
Empire State Development Corporation. A partnership
with the I Love NY division of Empire State Development Corp.
is making it possible for the Alliance to expand its work
promoting arts and culture statewide, as well study cultural
organizations as economic anchors and catalysts. ESDC also
lends its support to NYC ARTS, which features events
all summer long in the city but also contains expanded content
on day trips and other upstate cultural destinations.
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NEW
DIRECTORS
The Alliance is happy to announce the election of two new Directors:
Robert Clauser is Partner for Communications, Media and Entertainment at Accenture.
Heather Espinosa is the Director of Finance and Operations at Women & Company, a Citigroup company.
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DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS BUDGET FOR FY 2005
The Executive
Budget for fiscal year 2005, which begins July 1, proposes
$103.6 million for the Department of Cultural Affairs (out
of a total City budget of $46.9 billion.) This is $15.1 million
less than the current budget of $118.7 million but $5.1 million
more than the $98.5 million budget proposed in the January
preliminary financial plan. The Mayor took the positive step
of increasing the baseline for DCA by $10 million in comparison
to FY 2004. The City Council must consider whether to add
the $15.1 million necessary to maintain the current level
of funding. In City Council budget hearings on May 21, Cultural
Affairs Commissioner Kate D. Levin expressed the hope that
"the final budget will be higher than it is now."
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ALLIANCE SURVEY PRODUCES NEW CULTURAL ECONOMY DATA
A new
Alliance for the Arts study entitled The Health of New
York City's Cultural Institutions, examines the effects
of 9/11 on the financial health of nonprofit cultural organizations
through 2003. The study—based on data provided by
the New York State Council on the Arts—showed that
cultural groups in the city continued to be a source of
local jobs despite hardships caused by the recession and
9/11-related increases in expenses. The principal findings
are:
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In
2003, cultural organizations in New York City spent
a total of $2.1 billion on their annual operations.
Half of these expenditures (49 percent), or $1.06 billion,
went to salaries and fringe benefits for employees of
these organizations. |
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The
study finds that 87 percent of the employees of New
York City's cultural organizations live in the city,
compared to an overall average of 78 percent. |
The findings
also show that the cultural sector has struggled over the
past few years. After a period of robust growth in the late
1990s, the cultural sector declined by four percent overall
from 2001 to 2003, with total budgets increasing by two percent
from 2001 to 2002, then falling to below 2001 levels in 2003.
These small changes in the total incomes of cultural organizations
mask more dramatic shifts.
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Admissions
income plummeted 14 percent from 2001 to 2002, and regained
almost all (98 percent) of this loss by 2003. |
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Fundraising
income overall jumped 25 percent from 2001 to 2002,
and fell off only slightly in 2003. |
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Foundation
income increased by 15 percent from 2001 to 2002 with
special post 9/11 grants, but in 2003 fell back just
below 2001 levels. |
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Total
government support held steady from 2001 to 2002, but
declined by 14 percent in 2003. |
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| The
Alliance for the Arts serves the entire cultural community
through research and advocacy and serves the public through
cultural guides and calendars. |
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