Dear colleagues,
In November 2022, the field was unevenly emerging from the turbulent and destabilizing COVID-19 lockdown. This precarity was exacerbated by another curveball when the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) announced Cultural Development Fund (CDF) reforms. New funding categories, new minimum and maximum award amounts, and reductions by 20%, 40% and even 80% created fear, uncertainty, and a lack of understanding. At the same time, some organizations were funded for the first time, bringing excitement amidst anxiety.
Within a week, A.R.T./New York, Dance/NYC and Carrie Blake launched our first survey of the distribution and impact of the CDF. We had no idea that, over the past four years, this ad hoc data set would become such a visible and essential tool – and in many cases our only tool – for collective CDF advocacy.
This survey has been indispensable to building alignment with the DCLA. Four years later, we have the chance to reflect on the need for more accountability, robust partnership, and deeper conversation between organizations and city government.
Our analysis is limited by our networks and who has the capacity to complete the survey. But we know all of the data we collect in our survey already exists and is stored with the DCLA. If we want to build a future in which every New Yorker in every borough has equitable access to culture, we need full transparency.
That means:
● Thorough and timely annual reporting by the DCLA on the equity and impact of CDF grant disbursements;
● Clear explanations of the funding categories, their strategic objectives, and the
relationship between panel scores and funding allocations; and
● Timely award notifications and payments.
This is a moment of great opportunity – and high stakes – for our sector. We are encouraged by the responsiveness of the new administration, City Council leadership, DCLA Commissioner, and New York City Independent Budget Office. These are promising signs, but an explicit commitment to transparency, equity, and accountability is necessary.
As you review this report, we invite you to ask questions, reflect, and try to understand how we can advocate for more sustainability for the field. We hope that this can be a starting point as we ask for the full partnership and visibility our field truly needs.
Sincerely,
Talia Corren, Executive Director, A.R.T/NY
Raquel Du Toit, Executive Director, Dance/NYC
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