MAYOR GIULIANI ANNOUNCES THE ADDITION OF $3 MILLION TO THE CITY'S CULTURAL CHALLENGE PROGRAM
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today announced the addition of $3 million to the existing $2 million budget for the City's Cultural Challenge Program. The Mayor's budget addition comes at a time when the results of a new study prepared by the Alliance for the Arts, The Economic Impact of the Arts on New York City and New York State, shows strong growth in the arts industry between 1992 and 1995. The new City funding will be matched by private sector grants.
"This significant increase in funding to our Cultural Challenge Program will enable us to expand the revitalization the arts has experienced in New York City." Mayor Giuliani said. "Thanks to the existing program, the City and the private sector together have raised over $30 million and distributed 524 awards throughout the five boroughs to arts organizations. The results of this new study by the Alliance for the Arts prove that the arts generate money for the City and are one of the keys to our economic success."
The new study, commissioned by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts, estimates the economic contribution of the arts industry to New York City in fiscal year 1995 at $11.1 billion; employment generated by the arts at 130,466 jobs; and taxes returned to the City as a result of this activity at more than $221 million.
Joining the Mayor were Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Planning Randy Levine; Deputy Mayor for Operations Randy Mastro; Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Schuyler Chapin; New York City Economic Development Corporation President Charles Millard; Parks Commissioner Henry Stern; Office of Film, Theater and Broadcasting Commissioner Patricia Scott-Reed; President of the Alliance for the Arts Randy Bourscheidt; and members of the Mayor's Commission on Cultural Affairs. "New York City's vitality and creativity are inseparable from one another," the Mayor continued. "I don't think there's any doubt that if we didn't have the world's greatest museums and theaters, the greatest classical music and opera, an unparalleled literary community, and an exciting and distinctive film and television industry, we simply wouldn't be the most successful City in the world."
Commissioner Chapin said, "Since its inception, the Cultural Challenge Program has been successful in attracting new private support for large and small organizations, everything from keeping galleries open at the Metropolitan Museum to the Paul Taylor Dance Company's arts-in-education residences in Staten Island and Lower Manhattan. These funds are a further demonstration of the importance of the arts to the health of our City."
Arts organizations throughout the five boroughs are eligible to apply for the Cultural Challenge Program awards and the selection is highly competitive. A panel of experienced arts reviewers evaluates all the proposals and makes recommendations for the awards.
Randy Bourscheidt said, "The Alliance for the Arts' new study shows robust growth in the arts industry in New York City in the past several years. We found a 20 percent increase in expenditures by the cultural sector, and there is plenty of evidence that this trend has continued -- a record attendance at the Metropolitan Museum of 5.2 million; a rise of 11.8 percent in attendance on Broadway for the 1996-97 season; 18 percent more permits for film and television production in 1996. Our report also shows the strong link between the arts and tourism, which rose by 1.5 million visitors, or 4.9 percent, from 1995 to 1996, according to the Convention & Visitors Bureau."
For the most part, the new study is identical in definition and methodology to the analysis done of arts activity in FY 1992 by the Alliance for the Arts and the Port Authority. Since then, the cultural sector expenditures have increased by 20 percent in inflation-adjustment terms.
Contact Us | FAQs | Privacy Statement | Site Map