Arts and Culture
The Staten Island Foundation believes that strong arts and culture programs contribute to a more vibrant community and enhance the quality of life for all residents in Staten Island. A thriving arts community signals that a community is a desirable place for families to live and businesses to grow. All arts disciplines offer youth and adults an opportunity for self-development and a better understanding of our shared human experience. An arts component is necessary for a well-rounded education for Staten Island students, especially as it addresses the needs of those who learn differently.
Our grant-making under our Arts and Culture focus has concentrated on efforts that help cultural organizations expand and diversify their audiences which impact those organizations in a number of ways such as increased revenue, greater public awareness, and leveraged resources. We are particularly proud to have been a part of a funding collaboration that supported the work of SI Arts to build local capacity around diversity, equity and inclusion matters. Other capacity-building initiatives have addressed strengthening organizations’ fiscal management, social media marketing, and fundraising prospects that lead to greater sustainability.
Another area of recent concentration for our grant-making is arts education. The Foundation has supported both schools that wanted to secure arts programming for their schools and cultural organizations that seek partnerships with local schools. Grant supported programming include dance residencies with Alvin Ailey, music education with the NY Philharmonic, Education Through Music, theater-based initiatives with IlluminArt and Sundog Theatre.
Grant applicants with an Arts and Culture focus will identify one of the Foundation’s target outcomes below and develop an anticipated results statement that aligns with one of the following:
- Increases in the number of individuals participating in Staten Island art and culture offerings.
- Increases in the number of schools and community organizations that offer strong arts education.
- Increases in the number of youth that participate in the arts in or out of school through multiple experiences.
- Increases in diversity, equity & inclusion in our area’s existing arts & culture offerings.
- Improvements in effectiveness and efficiency of arts organizations that leads to their enhanced sustainability.