The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) is a government agency that funds and manages museums, theaters, concert halls, and other cultural arts centers in New York City. ¹ It has over 1,000 annual nonprofit grantees. ²

DCLA promotes and subsidizes artwork as a means of addressing social issues such as gun violence, homelessness, discrimination against LGBT people, and racism. ³

Background

The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs is an agency formed by New York City in 1975 to formalize funding for cultural arts initiatives in the city that date back to the 1869 creation of the American Museum of Natural History. ⁴ It is the largest funder of cultural arts programs in the United States, with an annual budget of around $200 million, over 1,000 annual grantees, and 34 subsidized cultural institutions. ⁵ According to its website, DCLA approves over 75 percent of applicants, which are reviewed by the Mayor and City Council. ⁶

Starting in 2015, DCLA began commissioning multiple studies analyzing the demographics of the employees of its funded institutions and grantees. The studies also review their “social impact” as well as how they have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of DCLAs’ studies is to identify diversity gaps and the desired social outcomes of its programs. ⁷

Programs

Cultural Development Fund

In addition to funding museums and other cultural arts institutions, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs makes grants through its Cultural Development Fund (CDF) to charitable nonprofit organizations whose missions include an art or cultural focus and that are based in New York City. ⁸ According to the CDF’s guidelines, grantee programs must contribute to the arts community, preserve historic artifacts or sites, or engage in arts education. It also makes grants to programs that study “practices rooted in humanities” and environmental sciences or promote “ethnic heritage.” ⁹

Affordable Real Estate for Artists (AREA)

In 2015, then-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) announced $30 million in funding over ten years for DCLA to create the Affordable Real Estate for Artists (AREA) program. The program subsidizes 1,500 units of housing and 500 units of workspace for artists to lower their cost of living and fund independent artists who are financially unable to support themselves through an art career at government expense. ¹⁰

PAIR

In November 2022, New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) announced an artist residency program named PAIR through which artists are given a $40,000 stipend, a workspace, and “ongoing assistance” to produce works of art that address social issues, including gun violence, homelessness, and hate crimes. The announcement also lists urban infrastructure as an issue being addressed by the artwork. Partner artists include Gioncarlo Valentine, who in a 2017 blog post asserted that he must “radicalize every space” he enters and confront anything he deems to be racist, even if it is considered aggressive. ^{11 12}

Diversity and Equity Hiring

In 2019, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs conducted a survey of its programs funded by the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation to identify the racial, gender, and sexual identity demographics of its employees. It stated the goal of the survey was to identify if the workforce of funded programs reflected those of the city. The survey found higher paying positions and hiring  overall skewed towards employing white individuals while also overrepresenting LGBT individuals. ^{13 14}

In August 2019, then-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) announced that organizations funded by the Department of Cultural Affairs would be required to submit a “diversity plan” to receive funding. Each plan must include “measurable goals” to achieve diversity, equity, and inclusion to receive funding, which includes the increased hiring of ethnic minorities overall and in executive positions as a result of its 2019 survey. ¹⁵

Controversy

The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs faced backlash after it was accused of engaging in a “backdoor deal” with the Museum of Chinese in America in Chinatown by giving it a grant to move to a new location so the existing building could be used as a new jail. Department of Cultural Affairs denied that any such deal was made. Critics complained that replacing the museum with a jail damages the culture in Chinatown. ¹⁶

In a 2019 letter to the City Council titled, “Borough-Based Jail Plan Points of Agreement,” then-New York City First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan stated that in support of efforts to build a new jail, a $35 million investment was agreed upon to construct a new location for the Museum of Chinese in America. ¹⁷

People

In March 2022, City Council member Laurie Cumbo (D) was named the commissioner of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. ¹⁸ Cumbo faced controversy in 2021 for opposing a bill that would allow non-citizens to vote, justifying her stance by claiming that many Latinos supported former President Donald Trump, and because the bill would “dilute” the impact of Black voters. ¹⁹

1. “Cultural Institutions Group (CIG).” Cultural Institutions Group (CIG) – DCLA. Accessed February 4, 2024. https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/cultural-funding/city-owned-institutions.page.
2. About CDF / registration. Accessed February 4, 2024. https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/cultural-funding/about-cdf-registration.page.
3. Kinsella, Eileen. “New York Mayor Eric Adams Has Tapped a Team of Four Artists to Help Him Solve Gun Violence, Homelessness, and Other Problems.” Artnet News, November 4, 2022. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/new-york-city-has-tapped-a-team-of-embedded-artists-to-take-on-gothams-toughest-problems-2204489.
4. “Introduction.” CreateNYC. Accessed February 4, 2024. https://createnyc.cityofnewyork.us/the-cultural-plan/intro/.
5. “Cultural Funding.” Cultural Funding – DCLA. Accessed February 4, 2024. https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/cultural-funding/cultural-funding.page.
6. About CDF / registration. Accessed February 4, 2024. https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/cultural-funding/about-cdf-registration.page.
7. Cultural Development Fund (CDF) reforms. Accessed February 4, 2024. https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/cultural-funding/cdf-reforms.page.
8. About CDF / registration. Accessed February 4, 2024. https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/cultural-funding/about-cdf-registration.page.
9. “FISCAL 2024 GUIDELINES.” New York City: New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, 2024. https://www.nyc.gov/assets/dcla/downloads/pdf/cdf_guidelines_annual.pdf
10. Affordable real estate for artists (area). Accessed February 4, 2024. https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/programs/area.page.
11. Kinsella, Eileen. “New York Mayor Eric Adams Has Tapped a Team of Four Artists to Help Him Solve Gun Violence, Homelessness, and Other Problems.” Artnet News, November 4, 2022. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/new-york-city-has-tapped-a-team-of-embedded-artists-to-take-on-gothams-toughest-problems-2204489.
12. Valentine, Gioncarlo. “Is There a Place for the Black Radical in the Nonprofit World?” ZINE, August 21, 2017. https://philaprint.wordpress.com/2017/08/10/is-there-a-place-for-the-black-radical-in-the-nonprofit-world/
13. “Diversity & Equity.” Diversity & Equity – DCLA. Accessed February 4, 2024. https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/programs/diversity.page.
14. “New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Workforce Demographics Pilot Study Results.” New York: New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, July 2019. https://www.nyc.gov/assets/dcla/downloads/pdf/NYC%20DCLA%20Full%202018%20WfD%20Report%207-24-19.pdf
15. Dafoe, Taylor. “New York City Told Its Museums to Diversify or Lose Funding. Here’s How They Plan to Address the Problem.” Artnet News, August 6, 2019. https://news.artnet.com/art-world-archives/new-york-museum-diversity-plans-1615537.
16. Billard, Jillian. “Proposed Museum Expansion Spells Trouble in Manhattan’s Chinatown.” The Art Newspaper – International art news and events, May 20, 2022. https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/05/20/proposed-museum-expansion-spells-trouble-in-chinatown.
17. Fuleihan, Dean. Letter to New York City Council. “Borough-Based Jail Plan Points of Agreement.” New York City, New York, October 18, 2019. https://council.nyc.gov/data/wp-content/uploads/sites/73/2019/10/BBJ_Points_of_Agreement_Rikers.pdf
18. “Laurie Cumbo Named Cultural Affairs Commissioner by Mayor Eric Adams.” BKReader. Accessed February 4, 2024. https://www.bkreader.com/news/laurie-cumbo-named-cultural-affairs-commissioner-by-mayor-eric-adams-6548786.
19. Honan, Katie. “Mayor Eric Adams Has Picked Controversial Former City Councilmember Laurie Cumbo to Lead the Department of Cultural Affairs, According to People Familiar with the Appointment.” THE CITY – NYC News, March 16, 2022. https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/03/16/laurie-cumbo-adams-supporter-set-to-lead-cultural-affairs-agency/?utm_source=bkreader&utm_campaign=bkreader%3A+outbound&utm_medium=referral.