Earlier today, the NYC Department of Education’s Office of Arts and Special Projects shared the attached memo with the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable regarding Arts Partnership Grants 2020-2021 (including Arts for English Language Learners/ Students with Disabilities and Arts and Family Engagement Grants).
As it relates to our community’s ongoing advocacy work, the memo states:
“Due to the unprecedented impact of Covid-19, we regret to inform you that the Arts Partnership Grants will not be renewed for 2020-2021. This is devastating news as we know the tremendous impact The Arts for English Language Learners & Students with Disabilities and Arts+Family Engagement grants has had on students, their families, school communities and arts partner organizations. We have always had a vision of supporting sustainability in grants, so we encourage partners and schools to discuss possibilities for continued collaboration within the school’s existing resources. However, we know this is a challenging fiscal climate, and this news will have an impact on arts education partnerships.”
For questions about Arts Partnership Grants, please reach out to Audrey Cox, Director of Arts Partnerships at ACox16@schools.nyc.gov. For any other questions, please reach out to ArtsAndSpecialProjects@schools.nyc.gov.
Additional Information
As our community continues to advocate via the “Arts Are Essential” campaign, the Roundtable wishes to share some additional history and context for this budget cut:
- According the the NYC DOE’s Annual Arts in Schools Report for 2018-2019 (the most recent year available) “sixty-two arts and cultural organizations provided Arts for ELLs and SWD services to 303 schools” (p. 91) and “sixty schools participated with 37 different arts partners providing family workshops in the arts” (p. 83).
- A total of $4,583,124 in Arts Partnership Grants went to schools in 2018-2019, according to the NYC DOE’s “Funding Our Schools” School Allocation Memoranda (SAMs) website.
- These Arts Partnership Grants were funded through the Mayor’s Arts Education Advancement allocation administered through the NYC DOE’s Office of Arts and Special Projects (sparked in part by Comptroller Scott Stringer’s 2014 State of the Arts report).
- The Mayor’s Executive Budget has proposed a $15.5 million cut to this arts education funding for 2020-2021, which will make these Arts Partnership Grants and other “contract and supplies” for schools impossible to fund.