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The Topic
The arts encompass virtually all forms of creative expression: music, theater, painting, sculpture, design, film and video, literature and, increasingly, the Internet.
The Context
New York City long has been considered the cultural capital of the nation, a draw to countless artists, writers, and performers. The city's Department of Cultural Affairs estimates that there are more than 1,200 nonprofit arts organizations in the five boroughs, of which at least 600 receive some kind of government support.
City Modifying Film Tax-Credit Plan

Despite Recession, Broadway Sets Record

Art Galleries Still Strong
Despite the tumbling art market, New York’s gallery scene is holding up quite well. In the last 12 months, around 25 out of an estimated 388 galleries in Chelsea have shuttered, according to Chelseaartgalleries.com. But during the same period, at least 10 new galleries have opened, and more are on their way.
Michelle Obama Shows Support of Arts in New York

Graffiti Group Takes on Ads

Broadway
by Brooks Atkinson

Loft Living: Culture and Capital in Urban Change
by Sharon Zukin

New York Modern: The Arts and the City
by William B. Scott and Peter M. Rutkoff

Successful Fundraising for Arts and Cultural Organizations
by Karen Brooks Hopkins and Carolyn Stolper Friedman

The Arts and the Creation of Mind
by Elliot W. Eisner

Arts Archive

A Cliffhanger for New York's Film Industry  (May 2009)  The film and TV industry, lured by government incentives, has brought glory, jobs and money to New York. But now moviemakers worry the state could be ceding the spotlight.

Summer Concerts Plan to Play On  (April 2009)  Free outdoor performances are a hallmark of summer in the city -- and so far it seems the recession will not change that.

Cultural Groups Wonder Just How Bad Things Will Get  (December 2008)  Arts organizations rely on government funds, private contributions, and ticket sales. The current recession threatens all three.

A Vanishing Culture?  (September 2008)  Original plans four arts institution to occupy the world trade center site. Now only one remains -- and it faces an uncertain future.

One Person's Vandalism Is Another One's Art  (March 2008)  Officials see street art and graffiti as a blight on New York's cityscape landscape. But while the City Council and police continue to wage war on street art, the works themselves have gained increased acceptance.

After the Theater Strike  (December 2007)  Now that Broadway is back, skeptics question whether the estimates of the strike's economic impact was overblown. Did the walkout really hurt the city? Is Broadway, for that matter, really crucial to the city’s economy?

Bigger Media, Less Local Democracy  (February 2007)  “Just as Starbucks knocked out independent coffee shops and Wal-Mart killed the corner store, media conglomerates have devastated locally produced newspapers, television stations, and radio programs throughout the country.” A talk with Eric Klinenberg, who explains how this has affected New York.

Arts Funding, Transformed  (January 2007)  The mayor’s preliminary budget proposes changes to funding for the arts that are making normally glum arts advocates do a little dance.

Artist Displacement  (November 2006)  Artists move in; neighborhood turns expensive; artists are pushed out. Several recent conferences have discussed solutions to the continuing problem, including homeownership for artists.

Fringe Benefits  (August 2006)  Even many artists who do not participate in New York’s annual fringe festival find themselves living on the fringe, without the basic benefits that come from more traditional employment.

American Idyll (For Foreign Artists)?  (May 2006)  “Taylor and Kat and Ace and Mandisa and Bucky knew what it took to become an American Idol,” Jonathan Mandell writes. “ But for Dusanka and Illana and Valeria and Nao and other foreign artists, the rules for becoming an American – or even just performing in America – can be excruciating.”

How To Make It In NYC As An Artist  (April 2006)  It is still possible to thrive as an artist in New York City, according to several recent reports, conferences and hearings, as long as artists follow some simple guidelines. (e.g. Never Get Sick)

Proposed Arts Budget, A Destabilizing Déjà Vu Dance  (March 2006)  Norma Munn of the New York City Arts Coalition takes a look at the proposed budget for the arts, and concludes “the rhetoric about the value of the arts to the city is not matched by the budget reality.”

The Cartoon Crisis  (February 2006)  Jonathan Mandell considers nine ways of looking at what is being called the cartoon crisis, all in New York.

Space Woes  (January 2006)  The space problems of artists -– space for living, for working, and for presenting their art -- are "particularly acute,” according to a new report and a recent City Council hearing. A look at what is being done, what can be done.

Gifts For The Disabled: Accessibility To The Arts  (December 2005)  Many disabled New Yorkers must struggle to get through the day every day, not just during a transit strike -- but they wouldn’t have to do without art and culture, if cultural institutions and the entertainment industry made some simple shifts (call them gifts), often at little or not cost.

Arts Education  (November 2005)  The promise of a new curriculum and increased support has excited many advocates of arts education, Jonathan Mandell writes, but has not completely won over critics who say that, in the city's public schools, the arts remain undervalued and inadequate.

Is New York The Cultural Capital Of The World?  (October 2005)  Is New York the cultural capital of the world, or at least the nation? Read between the lines of several new books, and the answer is no, which is one reason why the City Council is holding hearings.

9/11 And ''Inappropriate Art''  (September 2005)  In light of the many harsh words that seem to pair "art" with "inappropriate" whenever discussing September 11th, Jonathan Mandell looks at the current state and uncertain future of the four cultural structures planned for Ground Zero -- the memorial, the memorial museum, the performing arts center, and the cultural building.

Campaign 2005: Long-Term Issues Facing the Arts in NYC  (August 2005)  The candidates may be ignoring the arts this year, Jonathan Mandell writes, but there are issues in the arts in which they could make a difference, including funding, arts education, access, using the arts for economic development, and even a possible return of the culture wars

Arts Funding 101  (July 2005)  The city’s $50.2 billion budget this year includes about $130 million that the Department of Cultural Affairs will give out to hundreds of non-profit arts groups in the five boroughs. Jonathan Mandell attends “a quick Arts Funding 101” to learn who qualifies for funding, what it takes to apply, how the money is distributed, and why not everybody is cheering.

Audience Dissatisfaction  (June 2005)  Two new pieces of legislation – an updated state bill about ticket scalping, and a city bill that tries to address movie commercials - take as a given that New York audiences are mistreated, and offer hope that the way things are, is not the way things have to be.

Kindred Spirits: Art And Money  (May 2005)  The New York Public Library sells off “Kindred Spirits,” a famous New York painting, for Wal-Mart money, and ships it off to Arkansas. A businessman renames a Broadway theater after himself. The New York City Opera turns a fundraiser into a conductor. Jonathan Mandell looks at the “kindred spirits” of art and money, and one reason behind it -- the stagnant arts funding in the city budget.

Is Public Art For The Public  (May 2005)  Jonathan Mandell looks at the more than 200 works of public art created over the past two decades in schools, firehouses, traffic triangles, atop sewage treatment plants, as part of the Percent for Art program. (Check out the slideshow)

Culture and Construction  (April 2005)  Jonathan Mandell looks at several examples of the peculiar relationship between culture and construction in New York City -- recent news about the performing arts center at Ground Zero, a new play about Robert Moses, two exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art.

Has The Music Scene Died In New York?  (December 2004)  “When Bob Dylan moved to New York to make it as a singer-songwriter, he was acknowledging something that he helped define – the city was where pioneering musicians had to be,” Sydney Beveridge writes. “But if Dylan were starting out today, would he stay in Minnesota?”

Accountability For Non-Profits  (May 2004)  Martha Hostetter looks at the increasing government efforts to make non-profits accountable.

Another Museum Boom  (April 2004)  Martha Hostetter explains why, despite tough times, there are two new museums -- the Skyscraper Museum and the Ruben Museum for art from the Himalayas -- and major expansions of established institutions like the Brooklyn Museum of Art and the Morgan Library.

The Arts Community Of St. George -- Hot and Homegrown  (March 2004)  Will St. George in Staten Island become the next hot artists’ community?

Arts Groups Look to Congress to Ease Cultural Exchanges  (February 2004)  Martha Hostetter updates the difficulties facing foreign artists invited to perform here.

Artists' Fight To Sell On The Sidewalk  (January 2004)  Martha Hostetter details the fight over artists' right to sell their work on city sidewalks.

Non-Union Tours of Broadway Shows  (December 2003)  Martha Hostetter details the forthcoming fight over non-union touring productions of Broadway shows.

The Future of the Philharmonic at Lincoln Center  (November 2003)  "The New York Philharmonic's bizarre, near-defection from Lincoln Center to Carnegie Hall created ripples throughout the classical musical world," Martha Hostetter writes, "and may have long-lasting impact on the relationship between the nation's oldest orchestra and the world's largest arts complex."

The Marketing Of Culture  (October 2003)  Setting aside long-held qualms, cash-strapped arts groups are trying to turn their art into a product and themselves into a brand. Martha Hostetter reports.

A National Theater at Ground Zero  (September 2003)  Martha Hostetter writes about the effort to create at Ground Zero a new American National Theater. Also: The Howl Festival’s ambitious creators.

Lessons from Lincoln Center for the Ground Zero Cultural Center  (August 2003)  At the same time that Lincoln Center is "breaking up," the site of the World Trade Center is trying to become a cultural center. Martha Hostetter takes the occasion to ask: What mistakes made by Lincoln Center can the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation avoid?

Arts Education  (July 2003)  Martha Hostetter explains how the money earmarked for arts education is being siphoned off to meet basic (non-arts) needs in many schools. This may change as the chancellor tries to create a uniform arts curriculum, overseen by Caroline Kennedy.

A Downtown Cultural District Takes Shape  (June 2003)  Martha Hostetter explains efforts to create (in the long run) a downtown cultural district and (this summer) the ArtsVan.

Budget Battles In The Arts  (May 2003)  "Because of ancient prejudices and competing priorities, arts funding will always be questioned, no matter how much evidence is found demonstrating its value," writes Martha Hostetter, who details the proposed government cuts to the arts in New York.

Cultural Diplomacy  (April 2003)  As the post-9/11 art of grief has evolved into a wartime art of protest, Martha Hostetter suggests that the arts might also be useful as a form of diplomacy. Also: a return to a blacklist of artists? And an update on last month's four-day musician's strike.

The Musicians' Strike  (March 2003)  The Arts. Martha Hostetter looks at the issues surrounding the threatened musicians' strike, which would be the first in the city in 28 years.

Who Needs Art Criticism?  (February 2003)  The current intellectual climate, which seems to eschew distinctions between art and entertainment, "high" and "low," elite and popular, has also resulted in much less real arts criticism in mainstream newspaper in New York. Martha Hostetter details the changes, and introduces some new alternative publications trying to fill in the gaps.

0  (January 2003)  Hostetter

0  (December 2002)  Hostetter

Artists' Visas  (November 2002)  There have been more headaches than usual, Martha Hostetter writes, to secure visas for visiting foreign artists, “which has had a chilling effect on cultural exchange at a time when it is desperately needed.” One Tanzanian literally had to sing and dance for his visa – to prove to the U.S. officials that he was a performer.

Artists And Health Insurance  (October 2002)  

Building Community  (9/11 Special)  Martha Hostetter explains how the arts institutions suffered economically, even while artists helped build community.

The Mostly Mozart Strike: Music, Money and Maybe Better Art  (September 2002)  The musicians of Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival had their own labor day. Martha Hostetter looks at the details of the strike and how it was settled – and why such conflicts may result in better art.

The Arts and Albany  (August 2002)  Martha Hostetter looks at the connection between Albany lawmakers and NYC arts and artists.

Corporate Giving  (July 2002)  Martha Hostetter looks at corporate giving to the arts, and whether it is going to decline.

Hollywood East?  (June 2002)  

Culture and the World Trade Center Site  (May 2002)  Over the past decade, culture has become a favoredd tool for shaping urban neighborhoods. Will it play a role in the reshaping of the World Trade Center site?

Collaborations  (April 2002)  There is much talk in these trying times about artists (and art institutions) collaborating. Martha Hostetter looks at some of the more successful examples.

Funding And The Arts  (March 2002)  

Outlook From City Hall  (February 2002)  

Epic: An Experiment In Arts Education  (January 2002)  

Flailing After 9/11  (December 2001)  

Culture Counts  (November 2001)  

Heart of Brooklyn  (September 2001)  

Budget Shenanigans  (June 2001)  

Arts Budget  (May 2001)  

Indecent: The New Ruckus at the Brooklyn Museum  (February 2001)  

The Governor's Proposed Cut in the Budget for the Arts  (January 2001)  

Making Art Matter: A Plan to Redesign the Department of Cultural Affairs  (December 2000)  

The Arts are Apple Pie in New York, But The Candidates Have Been Silent on Specifics  (October 2000)  

Has New York Become the Art of the Impossible for Young Artists?  (September 2000)  

Funds for the Arts Go Up, but Remain Unfair  (August 2000)  

Art for Politics: The Museum of Modern Art Strike  (July 2000)  

Cattle Call: Summer Stampede Set for the Boroughs  (June 2000)  

Board of Education Hosts Student Performers  (May 2000)  

0  (April 2000)  Zangwill

Darkhorses Win International Competition for TKTS Booth  (March 2000)  

"Sensation" Ruling  (January 2000)  

"Sensation" Debate  (December 1999)  

No loft lost  (November 1999)