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Q&A
Strategies to support artists and cultural workers in New York City
2:39:44
·
3 min
Council Member Rivera raises concerns about artists leaving New York City due to lack of work and affordable housing. Commissioner Cumbo outlines several initiatives to support artists and cultural workers, including increased funding for local arts councils and participation in the After School For All program.
- 15% increase in funding for all five local arts councils in New York City
- $330 million investment in After School For All program, with significant arts and culture involvement
- Pilot projects combining cultural spaces with affordable housing, such as the National Black Theatre and Bedford Union Armory projects
Carlina Rivera
2:39:44
Thank you for that and I appreciate you always recognizing when people are kind of first to do something.
2:39:51
And you've mentioned my own position, so I always appreciate you.
2:39:55
And there's just one last question because I know my colleagues have them.
2:39:59
There's no doubt New York's the culture capital of the world.
2:40:02
You are an incredible cheerleader and champion of that.
2:40:05
Yet according to the cultural community, many artists and cultural workers are leaving New York due to lack of work or affordable housing.
2:40:12
I know chair Brandon mentioned labor shortages and the challenges in the creative economy.
2:40:18
With artists leaving, we are risking not only a loss of culture but also a loss of economic opportunity.
2:40:25
And I know you and I have talked about housing specifically and how desperately we need that here.
2:40:32
How can DCLA support artists and cultural workers to ensure that they do not have to leave New York City?
2:40:41
And is housing for those artists in practice, because I know there are some legal questions there, something your agency can support?
Lauri Cumbo
2:40:51
I'll start with this.
2:40:52
I know you have a lot to add on this as well Lance.
2:40:55
What I'm really excited about is for the first time we've delivered a 15% increase to all five local arts councils in New York City.
2:41:04
And that is substantial.
2:41:06
It's going to allow for many of the artists of New York City to receive grants, but also the support that comes with a grant that's being received by an artist that's a part of our local arts councils.
2:41:19
But something that I'm also really excited about is the mayor's announcement about After School For All.
2:41:25
This is a $330,000,000 investment in After School For All, and arts and culture are going to be a huge part of that initiative.
2:41:35
We're meeting with commissioner Howard in the days to come, and we are gonna discuss how we are going to prioritize our teaching artists, our arts organizations to be a part of this because this type of initiative would give what many artists need which is sustainable income where they're able to demonstrate that they have a work history that is very important for when you're applying to affordable housing lotteries and otherwise.
2:42:04
So we want to make sure that we are providing real employment that has a continuous and ability to have pay stubs and all of those types of dynamics that are on a regular basis that are gonna help the arts community on so many levels.
2:42:20
There are also projects that we've been piloting like the National Black Theatre, which is an arts and housing project that is going to show how artist housing can coexist with cultural spaces.
2:42:32
We're looking to do that, as well as the Bedford Union Armory project, now the major Owens Health and Wellness Center is another project where you have cultural space as well as deeply affordable housing for the individuals of New York City.
2:42:46
But I tell you it's something that I want to continue to crack the code on in terms of how we really create deeply affordable artist housing and workspace in New York City.
2:42:58
But these are some of the measures through the increase of the Arts Councils, wanna see more of that, and we can do that on partnership with the city council as well as with private partnerships.
2:43:09
But I also wanna make sure that we ensure that the arts community are at the forefront for the after school for all initiative.