Integrating the Arts into New York State's 2025 Policy Agenda

In recent years, New York State's growing arts and culture sector and booming artist population have sparked renewed economic and cultural vitality in nearly every corner of the state. But pressing challenges remain, as expenses grow much faster than revenues and incomes, major equity gaps persist, and public investment remains too low and fragmented to meet urgent needs and realize new opportunities. This forum explored the growing power of the arts as a catalyst for thriving communities statewide and examined ways that officials can more fully integrate the arts into the state's policy agenda.

Speakers included:

Assembly Member Brian Cunningham
Assembly Member Ron Kim, Chair, Committee on Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development
Assembly Member Jonathan Rivera, Chair, Subcommittee on Regional Tourism Development
Sarah Calderón, Executive Director, Creatives Rebuild New York
Alma Carrillo, Executive Director, Buffalo Arts Studio
Nicole Fenichel-Hewitt, Executive Director, The Art Effect
Stephanie A. Johnson-Cunningham, Executive Director, Museum Hue
Philip Morris, CEO, Proctors Collaborative
Justin T. Relf, Performing Arts Educator

This event was made possible through generous support from Creatives Rebuild New York. We are also grateful for general support from The Clark Foundation, The Altman Foundation, and ongoing support from a number of other philanthropic funders.