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December 01, 2016
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Partners with The Rockefeller Foundation to Inspire Arts Participation in Central Brooklyn and the South Bronx
Lincoln Center News
Press Contact: Julia Kirchhausen
917.453.8386
jkirchhausen@lincolncenter.org
LINCOLN CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS PARTNERS WITH
THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION TO INSPIRE ARTS PARTICIPATION
IN CENTRAL BROOKLYN AND THE SOUTH BRONX
Grants Ranging Between $50,000 and $100,000
Will be Awarded to Up to Ten Organizations
NEW YORK, NY (December 1, 2016) — Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts announced it has been selected by the Rockefeller Foundation to manage a pilot grant program that will directly benefit residents of Central Brooklyn and the South Bronx. The grant program, named the Lincoln Center Cultural Innovation Fund (LC CIF), is designed to encourage innovative strategies to catalyze greater access to—and participation in—cultural opportunities in the diverse neighborhoods of these boroughs. Up to ten nonprofit organizations specifically serving the two areas will be awarded grants of up to $100,000 to spark forward-thinking artistic projects or strategies that stimulate greater involvement in the arts. The grants will be for a one-year period beginning July 1, 2017, and the application process opens today.
Lincoln Center was chosen to manage the fund based on the institution’s existing footprint in both communities, its steadfast commitment to building community-based relationships, and its expertise in designing, implementing, and evaluating groundbreaking and meaningful programs.
“The Rockefeller Foundation believes in promoting the well-being of all people, and in investing in culture and innovation as a means to achieve greater inclusion and resilience. The arts have the unique ability of bringing people together in creative ways and of being a transformative force in influencing social change,” said The Rockefeller Foundation President Judith Rodin. “Since initiating the New York City Cultural Innovation Fund in 2007, we have supported 86 different cultural and community organizations, and we are delighted to partner now with Lincoln Center to continue this important work.”
“Lincoln Center is strongly committed to both the South Bronx and Central Brooklyn, and we are pleased to partner with The Rockefeller Foundation to serve the people of these two vibrant boroughs. Our role is to celebrate existing artistic endeavors, to nurture creativity, and to encourage bold thinking and action. In addition to guiding this process, we are excited about what we will learn from our partners,” said Russell Granet, Lincoln Center Executive Vice President of Education, Community Engagement, and International.
The program has three overarching goals: to increase arts participation in the diverse neighborhoods of the South Bronx and Central Brooklyn; to increase the range of places and platforms where cultural activities are taking place in both boroughs; and to support nonprofit organizations in piloting cultural innovation strategies and programs. Projects are encouraged in all arts disciplines (with partnerships strongly encouraged) and must both promote the active participation of residents in local cultural activities and plant the seeds for long-term arts-going habits. The projects that focus on innovating cultural engagement can be completely new programs or experiments that take a fresh, groundbreaking approach to an existing effort.
Nonprofit organizations with developing or established cultural programming in the following neighborhoods are eligible and invited to apply: Mott Haven, Port Morris, Hunts Point, Longwood, Morrisania, Melrose, Claremont, Crotona Park East, Mount Eden, Highbridge, West Concourse, Concourse Village, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Brownsville, Flatbush, and/or Prospect Lefferts Gardens. Up to ten one-year grants will range in amount from $50,000 to $100,000.
Lincoln Center is working with advisors in the two boroughs to ensure an equitable and strategic rollout of the program, among them: Nos Quedamos and Deirdre Scott from the Bronx Council on the Arts, both in the Bronx, and Tia Powell Harris from the Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn. Advisors will also help identify a panel of 11 people who will evaluate applications and will ultimately make recommendations for grant awards. The panel will consist of representatives from Central Brooklyn, the South Bronx, and The Rockefeller Foundation.
For more information on the Lincoln Center Cultural Innovation Fund, including guidelines for eligibility and application instructions, please visit LincolnCenterCulturalInnovationFund.org.
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About Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (LCPA) serves three primary roles: presenter of artistic programming, national leader in arts and education and community engagement, and manager of the Lincoln Center campus. A presenter of more than 3,000 free and ticketed events, performances, tours, and educational activities annually, LCPA offers 16 series, festivals, and programs, including American Songbook, Avery Fisher Career Grants and Artist program, David Rubenstein Atrium programming, Great Performers, The Performing Arts Hall of Fame at Lincoln Center, Lincoln Center at the Movies, Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Awards, Lincoln Center Festival, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Lincoln Center Vera List Art Project, Midsummer Night Swing, Mostly Mozart Festival, White Light Festival, the Emmy Award–winning Live From Lincoln Center, which airs nationally on PBS, and Lincoln Center Education, which is celebrating 40 years enriching the lives of students, educators, and lifelong learners. As manager of the Lincoln Center campus, LCPA provides support and services for the Lincoln Center complex and the 11 resident organizations: The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, The Film Society of Lincoln Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Juilliard School, Lincoln Center Theater, The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, New York Philharmonic, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, School of American Ballet, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
Lincoln Center has become a leading force in using new media and technology to reach and inspire a wider and global audience. Reaching audiences where they are – physically and digitally – has become a cornerstone of making the performing arts more accessible to New Yorkers and beyond. The re-imagination of David Geffen Hall will play an important part in these efforts.
For more information, visit LincolnCenter.org.
About The Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation has a long history of supporting the arts and humanities, fueled by a belief that the cultivation of aesthetic sensibilities through literature, music, and other fine arts is essential to the well-being of humanity. Today, The Rockefeller Foundation focuses on nurturing the vitality of New York City’s cultural institutions through our New York Opportunities Fund and supporting artists through our Creative Arts Fellows program at our Bellagio Center. This high-profile program awards fellowships to artists who have demonstrated exceptional originality inspired by global social issues, and who share in the Foundation’s goals of advancing more inclusive economies and building a more resilient world.
In addition, the Foundation continues to ensure that the arts remain inclusive through innovative collaborations, including a recent partnership to provide 20,000 NYC public school students with the opportunity to see Hamilton on Broadway. By integrating the arts into classroom studies, educational initiatives such as this promise to inspire the next generation of historians, artists, singers, and musicians. More information is available online: RockefellerFoundation.org.