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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Noel Allain, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Bushwick Starr Theatre
5:14:46
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160 sec
Noel Allain, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Bushwick Starr Theatre, testified about the importance of baseline funding for cultural organizations in New York City. He expressed gratitude for the proposed $45 million baseline increase for DCLA and requested an additional $30 million to support cultural institutions facing funding challenges.
- Highlighted the growth and impact of Bushwick Starr Theatre, including their new building and various community programs
- Emphasized the threat of shrinking funding landscapes and changing priorities of major foundations
- Stressed the importance of reliable funding sources to preserve local cultural institutions and ensure access to the arts for all New Yorkers
Noel Allain
5:14:46
Thank you, Chair Rivera, Chair Brennan and all council members present.
5:14:50
I'm Noel Elaine, Co Founder and Artistic Director of the Bushwick Star Theatre.
5:14:55
First, I want to thank the Mayor's Office for Baseline in DCLA funding at $45,000,000 This is an important historic step to ensure stability for cultural organizations in New York City, especially in moments of great uncertainty like the one we're looking through right now.
5:15:12
And I want to emphasize the tremendous significance of this decision.
5:15:16
My organization, the Bushwick Star, has gone through dramatic growth over the past five years, having purchased and renovated a building in our neighborhood of Bushwick, Brooklyn through a capital campaign with strong support from the city and state for which we are extremely grateful.
5:15:33
Because of the success of these efforts, after eighteen years of existence, we have now established the Star as a permanent asset for arts and education in our neighborhood.
5:15:43
Our yearly season of programming offers three month long runs of premier works, six readings of new plays, after school classes for elementary and high school students, writing workshops for seniors, intergenerational workshops with our seasoned artists and more, including drama classes at the Ridgewood Public Library supported by the Friends of the Library that was mentioned earlier in earlier testimony.
5:16:10
We bring 5,000 visitors to Bushwick over the course of the season and serve our neighbors with our season programming and enriching programs.
5:16:19
As the star grows, so does our ability to offer more paid internships, training and employment opportunities to our neighbors.
5:16:26
We are an institution that is a destination as well as a true neighborhood arts center.
5:16:32
Yet in this moment, when we are flourishing, we are also facing the existential threat of a shifting and shrinking funding landscape.
5:16:42
When major foundations are changing their priorities and funding that the field has relied on for decades suddenly disappears.
UNKNOWN
5:16:48
Thank you for your testimony.
5:16:49
Time has expired.
Noel Allain
5:16:50
Individual donors will be able to sufficiently fill that void.
5:16:54
The STAR's mission is to offer free programs and affordable tickets to ensure access to the work that we do.
5:17:00
Our earned income is 16% of our total budget.
5:17:03
In order for us to be able to continue to serve our constituents, it is essential that we have reliable funding sources dedicated to preserving local institutions like ours to serve New York's communities.
Justin Brannan
5:17:12
Thank you.
Christopher Leon Johnson
5:17:13
In this
Noel Allain
5:17:13
moment of uncertainty, I ask the city to add the additional $30,000,000 to the DCLA budget to ensure healthy and robust cultural institutions that will ensure that New Yorkers of all ages and income levels and access to the arts.