Jimmy Van Bramer News

The New York City budget that was announced on Wednesday has cut spending on cultural affairs by nearly 11%.

A diverse cross section of teachers, students, arts administrators and advocates are rallying to save arts education with a new campaign, Arts are Essential, that focuses on preserving the jobs of New York City's arts teachers and honoring contracts with arts education organizations, which have already been badly hurt by the coronavirus pandemic.

Today, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) and Americans for the Arts announced a new partnership to survey 501(c)3 nonprofit cultural organizations in New York City in an effort to capture the full breadth of the financial impact COVID-19 has had on this crucial sector.

The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) has announced this year's recipients of grants through the CreateNYC Language Access Fund. 36 NYC-based nonprofits will receive grants ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 in support of programming that increases access to arts and culture for those whose primary language is not English. The awarded programs represent 12 languages a?" including Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Russian, and American Sign Language a?" and will serve audiences in all five boroughs.

The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs has announced $51.3 million in grants to support public cultural programming at 985 organizations across New York City as part of its fiscal year 2020 annual funding cycle. The funds support groups working in a vast range of disciplines, serving audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Together, the hundreds of cultural organizations receiving this support form the backbone of New York City's vibrant cultural life. The total includes funding set aside for underserved communities and major new investments in nonprofits that directly support individual artists working throughout the city. The agency continues to prioritize funding equity for culture in every corner of NYC and support for goals outlined in the CreateNYC cultural plan.

Calpulli Mexican Dance Company will bring back their holiday production by Artistic Director Alberto Lopez Herrera and Co-Founder & Executive Director Juan Castaño. 'Navidad: A Mexican-American Christmas' celebrates the holiday traditions experienced by a young person of Mexican immigrant parents growing up in New York City.

The award-winning Titan Theatre Company will celebrate their 11th Season tonight, with their 2019 a?oeLove and Lust' Gala Event!

The City University of New York (CUNY), the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), and The Rockefeller Foundation have announced the launch of the fourth year of the CUNY Cultural Corps, which places students in paid internship positions with New York City non-profit cultural institutions. The program exposes students to opportunities and future careers in the arts while expanding the cultural community's engagement with CUNY's diverse pool of talent. As of the current fiscal year, funding for the Cultural Corps has been made a permanent line item in DCLA's budget, providing long-term support for the program. The Rockefeller Foundation has also established an endowment-based fellowship to support several internships each year in perpetuity. 

The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) has announced the CreateNYC Language Access Fund to support cultural organizations' efforts to increase access to cultural programming for audiences whose primary language is not English. Building on recommendations in the CreateNYC cultural plan, the new fund will support the creation and presentation of work for non-English-speaking audiences, bilingual cultural programming intended primarily for non-English speakers, and multilingual community engagement in the arts. The initiative aims to remove barriers to participation in arts and culture for the millions of New Yorkers who are non-English speakers, multilingual learners (MLLs), English language learners (ELLs), and sign language users.

Today, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) and women.nyc (NYCEDC) announced that artist team Amanda Williams and Olalekan Jeyifous has been selected to design a new monument honoring Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to serve in Congress. The design proposed by the artists, called Our Destiny, Our Democracy, was selected through the City's Percent for Art program, and will now be refined as it proceeds through additional community input and public review. The monument is the first to be commissioned as part of the She Built NYC program, which seeks to expand representation of women in the City's public art collection. The Shirley Chisolm monument will be installed in Prospect Park by the end of 2020.

On Wednesday night April 10th, 2019 at 7:00 pm guests will arrive at The Green Building in Gowanus, Brooklyn for Dancewave Gala 2019, one of Brooklyn's premier cultural events.

New York Live Arts 2019 Live Ideas Gala, co-chaired by Matthew Putman, Slobodan Randjelovi and Jon Stryker, and hosted by award-winning director and photographer and noted social activist Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri, pays tribute to Live Arts' annual Live Ideas Festival. The Gala will take place at the Caldwell Factory, 547 W 26th St, New York City on Monday, March 25th starting with a cocktail reception followed by a dinner catered by BITE and performances.

Calpulli Mexican Dance Company (Calpulli) will premiere'Puebla: The Story of Cinco de Mayo' (Puebla) at Queens Theatre on April 13 - 14, followed by a national tour with performances in Texas, Georgia and New Jersey. The Queens-based Company, now in its 16th year, received a national award from the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) making the new production possible. Under the artistic direction of Alberto Lopez Herrera, 'Puebla' tells a universal tale of the underdog fighting impossible odds. The setting is the Battle of Puebla when a small army of Mexican soldiers and commoners defeated the French army, the strongest military force of the time, on the 5th of May (Cinco de Mayo), 1862. Through folkloric and contemporary dance, live music and elaborate costuming, the Company will elaborate on the history of the now-famous date and celebrate the culture and people of Puebla. Saturday, April 13th, 2019 at 8:00 p.m. Sunday, April 14th, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. Queens Theatre Flushing Meadows Corona Park 4 United Nations Ave S, Corona, NY 11368

Green Space is pleased to announce a diverse roster of artists for its signature programs this March. Take Root will present an evening of work by DeLucia Benson Dance and Six Degrees Dance, curated by Chris Ferris, on March 15th and 16th, and Fertile Ground showcases works-in-progress by multiple dance artists on March 17th.

In 2019, Flushing Town Hall offers a breadth of outstanding global music, family programs, exhibitions, jazz and workshops. From January through June, Flushing Town Hall will present 72 programs, including 18 world music shows, 10 jazz performances, eight family programs, seven classical music concerts, three exhibitions, and more.  The spring season is a continuation of 40th anniversary celebrations of the Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts (FCCA), the steward of Flushing Town Hall.

In the style of a 1940's radio program, actors perform the story as a Christmas Eve broadcast with music and live sound effects. Join George Bailey as he learns what happens to his hometown when he makes a wish to an angel that he was never born. A story of redemption that resonates with all ages, It's A Wonderful Life has become an American Classic.

In the style of a 1940's radio program, actors perform the story as a Christmas Eve broadcast with music and live sound effects. Join George Bailey as he learns what happens to his hometown when he makes a wish to an angel that he was never born. A story of redemption that resonates with all ages, It's A Wonderful Life has become an American Classic.

The service organization Dance/NYC is pleased to announce the release of Immigrants. Dance. Arts.: Data on NYC Dance, prepared in collaboration with the Immigrants. Dance. Arts. Task Force.

In the style of a 1940's radio program, actors perform the story as a Christmas Eve broadcast with music and live sound effects. Join George Bailey as he learns what happens to his hometown when he makes a wish to an angel that he was never born. A story of redemption that resonates with all ages, It's A Wonderful Life has become an American Classic.