Laurie Cumbo, the commissioner of New York City’s Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), announced on Thursday (22 August) that more than $200m in municipal funding will be distributed to 80 cultural non-profits across the city in support of capital projects as part of the city’s budget for fiscal year 2025.
Of the $213.8m earmarked for improvement projects in New York City’s culture sector, the largest sum, $4.3m, will be granted to the Arts Students League of New York, where the announcement took place, in support of its 150th anniversary renovation project.
“Culture is a pillar of our city’s economy and a critical part of healthy, safe, thriving communities,” Cumbo said in a statement. “No other city in America supports its cultural institutions as we do through DCLA’s capital programme, partnering with institutions on construction, renovation and equipment projects to deliver remarkable cultural facilities that are open and accessible to all.”
The Arts Students League’s building on 57th Street, which was constructed in 1892, was designed by Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, the architect responsible for other New York gems like the Plaza Hotel and the Dakota Apartments. The Art Students League renovation will unveil and update the skylight roof of its signature Vanderbilt Gallery, which has been shuttered from the public since the Second World War.
An archival image of the Art Students League’s Vanderbilt Gallery, with its skylight ceiling Courtesy the Art Students League of New York
“The Art Students League has been a haven for artists and a source of accessible, high-quality fine art education for nearly 150 years and it is among the most impactful institutions in our nation’s history, and in New York City today,” said Michael Hall, the executive and artistic director of the League, in a statement.
Other funding recipients include SculptureCenter (to support upgrading audiovisual equipment), the Bronx Museum of the Arts (for its current renovation project), the Dia Art Foundation (which will put the funds toward a new vehicle), the Guggenheim Museum (to upgrade its lighting) and the Queens Museum (which is building a new space specifically for children).
New York Mayor Eric Adams has been criticised for making deep cuts to the city’s cultural funding and other programmes in order to address the city’s “migrant crisis”. However, earlier this summer he had an apparent change of art, opting to restore $53m in funding for fiscal year 2025 to the DCLA.
