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:
Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, Inc.
$85,000 (over two years)
To help support and expand A.R.T./New York's programs and services for New York City's Off and Off Off Broadway theatres
American Composers Orchestra, Inc.
$100,000 (over two years)
To provide capacity building support for American Composers Orchestra, as the organization implements its new multi-year Strategic Plan
The ArtsConnection, Inc.
$25,000
To help support ArtsConnection’s Teen Reviewers and Critics (TRaC), Take 5, and Teen Advisory Council (TAC) programs
ArtsPool, a project of Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, Inc.
$100,000 (over two years)
To provide capacity building support to help ArtsPool strengthen its operations as it expands the number of nonprofit arts organizations it serves in the areas of finance, workforce administration, and compliance
Children's Museum of Manhattan
$100,000 (over two years)
To help support a two-year capacity building assessment and redesign of CMOM’s business practices related to programming, staff, and community expansion in preparation for the Museum's move to West 96th Street
Community-Word Project (CWP)
$70,000 (over 28 months)
To provide capacity building support to help expand and deepen CWP's program of training, supervised internships, and field building for teaching artists, classroom teachers, and partnering arts organizations working with children and youth in underserved communities
Gina Gibney Dance
$100,000 (over two years)
To provide capacity building support for administrative and financial infrastructure as Gibney expands its space, technology, and programming
The New York Community Trust (Mosaic Network and Fund)
$150,000 (over two years)
To help launch the Mosaic Fund, a new donor collaborative supporting arts groups that are led by, created for, and serve African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American people
The New-York Historical Society
$100,000 (over two years)
To implement enhancements identified through the New-York Historical Society's recent evaluation of its educational programming for students and teachers across the New York City metropolitan area, and expand work with targeted audiences
The New York Public Library
$100,000
To help expand The New York Public Library's Early Literacy Initiative
Orchestra of St. Luke's/St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, Inc.
$35,000
To help strengthen the programming and support the strategic growth of the Youth Orchestra of St. Luke’s, an intensive afterschool instrumental learning program in Hell’s Kitchen
Queens Museum of Art New York City Building
$100,000
To renew support for the Museum’s New New Yorkers arts and literacy initiative for recent adult immigrants and help support the Museum’s partnership with the Queens Library
Rockaway Waterfront Alliance, Inc. (AKA RISE Rockaway Initiative for Sustainability and Equity)
$50,000
To help support the development of a strategic action plan and an organizational development plan
The Shed NYC, Inc.
$125,000 (over eighteen months)
To provide capacity building support for The Shed’s audience development and community engagement strategy
Sphinx Organization, Inc.
$25,000
To support and grow the capacity, sustainability, and impact of the Sphinx Organization's New York partnerships and programming
The Studio in a School Association, Inc.
$125,000 (over two years)
To build capacity through the new role of the Manager of Curricular Design and Instruction, who will oversee and align curricular frameworks and training practices used both by Studio’s New York City Schools Program and by the Studio Institute
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:
Ballet Tech Foundation, Inc.
$50,000 (over two years)
To help support citywide auditions for public elementary school children and provide tuition-free ballet training, from beginner through the pre-professional level, for students from underserved backgrounds
Beam Center Inc.
$50,000
To support BeamWorks Youth Apprentices and Teen Instructors, a training program for low-income public high school students
Brooklyn Youth Chorus Academy, Inc.
$100,000 (over eighteen months)
To help support the Choral Music Education and Performance Program’s direct service to 700 socio-economically diverse young people, and to launch an Artistic Leadership and Training Initiative designed to help build artistic capacity, train junior staff, and cultivate a future leadership succession path
Center for Family Life in Sunset Park
$50,000
To support positive growth and development of underserved youth in Sunset Park through the Life Lines Community Arts Project
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
$120,000 (over eighteen months)
To help support the Saturday and Outreach Programs—arts intensive, college-preparatory programs for New York City high school students from underserved communities—and the implementation of an in-depth assessment of both programs
Groundswell Community Mural Project, Inc.
$70,000 (over two years)
To help support the implementation of its recent strategic plan, including initiatives to enhance Master Studio programs and evaluation tools
Hudson River Community Sailing
$40,000
To help launch a second youth development program serving middle school students in Inwood and support Sail Academy college-going alumni
Jazz at Lincoln Center, Inc.
$50,000
To help support the Middle School Jazz Academy and continue work with MSJA alumni
Mind-Builders Creative Arts Company, Inc.
$100,000 (over two years)
To provide capacity building support for Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center
New Heights Youth, Inc.
$40,000
To support planning and capacity building in preparation for program expansion and a possible move to the Bedford-Union Armory development in Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Peter Westbrook Foundation, Inc.
$35,000
To provide program support for this youth development program anchored by the sport of fencing
Queens Council on the Arts, Inc.
$50,000 (over two years)
To help support the High School to Art School Portfolio Development Program
Reel Works Teen Filmmaking
$50,000 (over fifteen months)
To support MediaMKRS, an innovative digital credentialing platform for media studies and workforce readiness in film and entertainment
Row New York, Inc.
$150,000 (over two years)
To provide general operating support for Row New York's youth development work
Staten Island Children's Museum
$25,000
To help support the Museum Intern and Ambassador Program for teens
Woodlawn Conservancy, Inc.
$80,000 (over two years)
To help support the Preservation Training Program, a workforce development initiative helping young people develop job skills and obtain employment in stone masonry and historic preservation while also contributing to the restoration of The Woodlawn Cemetery, a National Historic Landmark