Center for an Urban Future (CUF) virtual policy conversation on Friday, December 11th from 10am to noon. Please join us for this live-streamed event, which is generously supported by New York Community Trust, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund.
Panel speakers include our very own Executive Director, Pete Rushefsky, Gonzalo Casals, Commissioner of NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Council Member Carlina Rivera from the New York City Council, State Senator José M. Serrano, Chair of Majority Conference & Committee on Cultural Affairs, New York State Senate, Karesia Batan, Founder of the Queensboro Dance Festival, Sandie Luna the Executive Director of ID Studio Theater, Hussein Smko, Artist and Sally Tallant, President & Executive Director at the Queens Museum.
Immigrants have become increasingly pivotal to the success of the arts in New York. Though their contributions are too often overlooked, immigrants make up a growing share of the city’s artists and play a lead role in sharpening New York’s creative edge, preserving cultural heritage, and anchoring the city’s position as a global leader in contemporary culture. But now the livelihoods of countless immigrant artists—and the survival of the cultural organizations that champion their work—are facing major threats from the COVID pandemic.
This forum will explore the growing role of immigrant artists in New York’s cultural life, the impact of the COVID crisis on the immigrant arts ecosystem, and the longer-term challenges facing immigrant artists and immigrant-focused arts organizations across all five boroughs. And it will examine what New York City and State can do both now and in the future to help immigrant artists and arts organizations survive the current crisis, overcome other long-standing challenges, and weave new strength into the cultural fabric of New York City.