FY19 ANNUAL REPORT
CONTENTS
Raggamuffin, Live Ideas Keynote, photo by Ian Douglas
Greetings! ........................................................... Dear Friends ...................................................... YOU ....................................................................... In the Media ...................................................... Celebrating the Trilogy .................................. Artists at Work .............................................. Are You Brave Enough? ................................ Search & Research ......................................... 21st Century Liberation ................................. Live Gallery ........................................................ Empower & Educate ................................... Strategizing the Future ............................... Support & Finances ...................................... Lead the Way ....................................................
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New York Live Arts Annual Report FY19 | 1
GREETINGS!
Netta Yerushalmy’s Paramodernities, photo by Maria Baranova
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this much longer history.
While the combined experience of our legacy organizations Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company and Dance Theater Workshop represent over 80 years of cultural exploration and investment, New York Live Arts is a feisty 8 years old with energy and vision proudly informed by
At the time of our legacy organization’s merger, we recognized a field in need of investment in: • Incubation for the young and untried • Sustaining and encouraging the more experienced • Providing a platform for community conversations around issues at the forefront of our era’s concerns Incubation is at the heart of our mission. Ours is a lively art, reflecting the tradition of the United States in general, and New York in particular, that has always sought and cultivated individuals of unique talent and vision. We often forget these individuals had a beginning. We’re committed to providing a safe space to begin such journeys. Fresh Tracks, a series now begining its 55th year is such a program. As my colleagues would agree, when commissioning a new work, one is never sure of the results. Here at New York Live Arts, my Associate Artistic Director Janet Wong and I take it as an article of faith that we must commit the time to each individual we engage to get to know them and their work. As a result, our Live Feed multi-year commitments, the bulk of our commissioning and presenting focus, are essential to our vision. Those who are mid-career and more experienced artists need to be championed as well. We’re very proud of our Randjelović/Stryker Resident Commissioned Artist (RCA) program aimed towards supporting the work of more mature artists. This program offers two-year long, full creative support for the creation and presentation of new work. We offer studio space, technical support, administrative counseling, and a fully produced season at New York Live Arts. Raja Feather Kelly is the latest artist selected to this program. He joins an impressive list of RCA Artists: Yasuko Yokoshi, Kyle Abraham, Okwui Okpokwasili, and RoseAnne Spradlin.
Our mission statement is centered around the notion of « moving and thinking », hallmarks of our experimental field. As we conceived New York Live Arts, we recognized that ours should be a place where a community comes together to mull over ideas, engage in potentially fractious conversations, and develop strategic ways to negotiate the world we’ve inherited. This humanities branch of our mission is represented by: • Open Spectrum: A series of community-based events and conversations driven by issues such as civic participation, mental health, immigration and cultural sustainability. • Bill Chats: A public Conversation between myself and individuals that I, and hopefully my community, find fascinating. It’s an ever-growing list with personalities such as Fran Leibovitz, Salman Rushdie, Carrie Mae Weems, Moises Kaufman, Wynton Marsalis, Oskar Eustis, Claudia Rankine, Tracey K. Smith, and Hank Willis Thomas among others. • Live Ideas: A multi-day festival centered around compelling topics. It’s format changes from year to year and it consists of individual presentations, panel discussions, film screenings and performances. Past festivals have been: The Worlds of Oliver Sacks, James Baldwin, This Time!, SKY-Force and Wisdom in America Today, curated by Laurie Anderson, MENA/FutureCultural Transformations in the Middle East North Africa Region, Mx’d Messages curated by Mx. Justin Vivian Bond, RADICAL VISION, and AI: Are You Brave Enough for The Brave New World? Like all cultural organizations, great and small, we are never challenge free. Still we are in a forward thinking, energized frame of mind, committed to creating a legacy that continues to generate dividends to New York’s cultural landscape and beyond. As always, we are grateful for your belief in us,
Bill T. Jones Artistic Director
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DEAR FRIENDS
DANCENOISE’s Lock ‘em Up, photo by Ian Douglas
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On July 1, 2019, I celebrated my 4th anniversary at New York Live Arts with great warmth toward our team and pride in what we’ve accomplished these past 4 years. We have worked hard to create a sustainable cultural model and we have done so. It took sweat equity, soul searching and truth telling. It required a level of trust and transparency with our stakeholders. As we went through this process, experimenting with model and structure, we kept a laser focus on our ability to adapt to our circumstances while staying true to our mission and values: to support and present new work by artists at all stages of their careers; to take risks; to engage in an intellectual and rigorous process; to address difficult subjects through the work we support and through our humanities programming; to work toward equity and inclusion looking deeply at our own organizational practices; and to engage in experimental ways of thinking. Because of the above we have a positive net operating income for the third year in a row, our real estate is secure, and a debt free future is on the horizon. So, what keeps me up at night? This was a question posed by a colleague who recently asked me to share on a panel about cultural sustainability. I asked him to define this as it related to the discussion and he said “we’d like to examine what it takes to thrive and survive as an arts organization or cultural institution in New York City today - to stay relevant and responsive, competitive and collaborative, while also remaining fiscally viable.” When I began to create notes, I wrote these words: relevant, responsive, competitive and collaborative. And then I wrote these questions: • Relevant to whom? • Responsive to what? • What are we competing for? • And who are we collaborating with?...while also remaining fiscally viable... At this moment in history, of the world, our country, and this organization, I have many more questions than answers. Questions about meaning and relevance in relation to what
we do, and what I insist must be measured and sustainable growth moving forward. And questions about what growth means? Does it have to be lateral or can it be vertical? In other words, do we have to do more, or can we do what we do better and is that also growth? AND why, in American culture, do we place so much importance on GROWTH? And more questions: • How do we strike a balance between education & entertainment and intellect & sustainability? • How do we define the Public? And, how do we work toward a broader definition that is more inclusive and less rhetorical? • How does our curatorial practice create our Public and how does our Public sustain and support our institution? • How do we disrupt our own model while surviving within it? • What is the future of live gathering in general and live performance specifically? As I said, I have many questions. Some of these take me deep into conversation. Some keep me up at night. Some are existential. All of them are relevant. In February, we held our first board retreat since my tenure began. We are planning for the future which must include answers to the above. This is not the time to shy away from looking long and hard at where we are going, as global-citizens; as Americans; as economic participants in the world of artmaking; and as individuals. At a recent conference I attended with Bill, one of the panelists asked the audience to stand up, find a stranger and look them in the eyes for 5 minutes all the while seeing them as a six-year old child. It was a most profound experience. It was difficult. I felt there were answers there and believe we will have to go to this level of honest and vulnerable space to answer our questions. It will not be easy, most valuable lessons are not. However, we may experience transformation and after all, isn’t that what we are looking for? Onward, Kim Kim Cullen Executive Director & CEO
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YOU
The artist plays a distinct role as a witness to truth, by participating in free speech and creative expression. Deputy Leader of the New York City Council Jimmy Van Bramer, Derrick Adams, and Bill T. Jones Photo by Maria Baranova, wall art by Derrick Adams
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Thank YOU for being the backbone behind our achievements as a cultural institution and for YOUR steadfast commitment to the arts and humanities. YOUR support provides the resources needed for our programming to thrive. YOU make it possible for New York Live Arts to remain a place to come together, explore common values, and ask difficult questions. Because of YOU, we have been able to keep Live Art experiences at the center of a broader conversation about cultural values and the intellectual, aesthetic, and social purposes of art-making. Thank YOU!
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IN THE MEDIA
Randjelović/Stryker Resident Commissioned Artist RoseAnne Spradlin’s Y, photo by Maria Baranova
“Now and again, a complex bit of choreography can provoke a desire for instant replay, another chance to notice more. In Y, the RoseAnne Spradlin work that had its debut at New York Live Arts on Thursday, that desire is fulfilled abundantly.” Review: Sit Still and Watch the Dance Revolve. September 28, 2018. Brian Seibert on Y, RoseAnne Spradlin, New York Times.
“To watch them move is to witness gravity at its weightiest; their descent is frequently disrupted or expedited by each others’ bodies.”
Review: another piece apart: two parts as a whole. November 1, 2018. Jen George on Jennifer Nugent & Paul Matteson’s another piece apart, Brooklyn Rail.
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DANCENOISE’s Lock ‘em Up, photo by Ian Douglas
“Lock ‘em Up is both the audacity of Nope! and a blast of energy to make you get busy with the painful and painstaking work of snatching our country back from the fascist bastards. And it’s fun. You must get there.” Review: DANCENOISE makes some noise on West 19th. December 13, 2018. Eva Yaa Asantewaa on Lock em’ Up, DANCENOISE, Infinite Body.
“A man of hearty appetites — for courting controversy, for expansive productions, for off-the-radar music and free expression of many sorts — Jones is a crusader for independent artists because (a) he’s one of them, and (b) he’s irrepressible.” Dancemaker Bill T. Jones isn’t always sure art is useful. Here’s Why he Keeps at it. March 22, 2019. Sarah L. Kaufman on Bill T. Jones, Washington Post.
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CELEBRATING THE TRILOGY
Analogy/Dora: Tramontane, photo by Paul B. Goode
“flows with an engaging slipperiness between being illustrative and formally abstract” – The New York Times on Analogy/Dora: Tramontane “This is the whole package, a complete work of art in which every element is necessary and all are in harmony” - Durham Herald Sun on Analogy/Lance: Pretty aka The Escape Artist “their singing is achingly beautiful” - The News & Observer on Analogy/Ambros: The Emigrant
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Analogy/Lance: Pretty aka The Escape Artist, photo by Paul B. Goode
Bill T. Jones/ Arnie Zane Company Bill T. Jones with Associate Artistic Director, Janet Wong and his company created the Analogy Trilogy over the course of six years. It was an investigation of memory, storytelling and form. Inspired by W.G. Sebald’s The Emigrants, Bill T. Jones continued his exploration of how text, storytelling and movement pull and push against each other and how another experience can be had through the combination and recombination of these elements. The series of works showed an object spatially, from various perspectives, as well as over time. Events were fractured, the fissures filled with fragments of their histories and futures. The choreography, musical composition, storytelling and design elements folded into a work that resembled origami- reopened, and refolded again. All three stories, while wildly different, ruminated on the nature of service, duty and the question: what is a life well lived? With original score by Nick Hallett, dÊcor by Creative Director, Bjorn Amelan, video design by Janet Wong, lighting design by long-time collaborator Robert Wierzel and costumes by Liz Prince, the Analogy Trilogy was an incredible and powerful feat for which our organization is very proud.
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CELEBRATING THE TRILOGY
Analogy/Ambros: The Emigrant, photo by Andrew Jernigan
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21 Touring Desinations · Peak Performances, Montclair, NJ · American Dance Festival, Durham, NC · Dancers’ Workshop, Jackson Hole, WY · Eccles Center, Park City, Utah · Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA · Dance St. Louis, St. Louis, MO · Dance Cleveland, Akron, OH · George Mason University, Fairfax, VA · Williams Center for the Arts, Easton, PA · The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Pittsburgh, PA · Joyce Theatre, New York, NY · UNC Greensboro, Greensboro, NC · SUNY Purchase, White Plains, NY · ASU Gammage, Tempe, AZ · Meany Hall for the Performing Arts, Seattle, WA · NYU Skirball, New York, NY · CAP UCLA, Los Angeles, LA · Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, Boston MA · The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC · Spoleto Festival, Charleston, SC
Partners In Creation:
Eleanor Friedman, Chair Anonymous Anne Delaney Zoe Eskin Ruth & Stephen Hendel James C. Hormel & Michael P. Nguyen Suzanne Karpas Ellen M. Poss Carol Tolan Jane Bovingdon Semel In memory of Linda G. Shapiro Slobodan Randjelović & Jon Stryker
Analogy/Dora: Tramontane Based on an oral history Bill T. Jones conducted with Dora Amelan around 2002, a French Jewish nurse & social worker. Amelan’s harrowing, touching and inspirational story was broken into approximately 25 episodes that became the basis for choreography and songs. These episodes chronicled her early life in Belgium, her mother’s death as the Germans were marching into Belgium and her experiences working at an underground Jewish organization in Vichy France’s internment camps, Gurs & Rivesaltes. Here was a portrait of the ability to persevere and survive. Analogy/Lance: Pretty aka The Escape Artist In section two we met Lance, whose battles with his own personal demons - drugs and excess - exposed us to another type of war. It was the battlefield of the nightlife and underworld of the late 80s and early 90s club culture and sex trade. This “pretty boygangster thug”, a name he acquired in prison, held steadfast to his often tragic and sometimes outrageously humorous narrative, while facing an uncertain future. Lance T. Briggs (LTB or Pretty) was born in 1970 in Buffalo, NY. He was the only boy among five children. He fathered one son. He is a former dancer, model, songwriter, choreographer, exotic dancer and male escort. His life has been a struggle through addiction and recovery. In 2014, he began an oral history project with his uncle, Bill T. Jones. He is currently in recovery after having lost the use of his lower limbs due to certain medical circumstances not quite understood. He is writing a memoir called “Welcome to The Pretty Show”. Analogy/Ambros: The Emigrant W.G. Sebald, author of the celebrated novel, The Emigrants, and original inspiration for this work, has been known to defy form. He was fearless in blurring the lines between the artistic and the intellectual. In certain circles he has been called an inspired antiquarian, sniffing around library shelves, walking around ruins, thinking about thinking, and he was able to make a compelling body of literature out of it. Sebald was able to fold intensely autobiographical and biographical information into his narrative and with him as mentor and guide through the Trilogy, the company challenged audiences and themselves with this form. In this third section, Jones looked to his company to find their personal relationship to Sebald’s text and folded that into the work. By tasking the performers to act and sing, as well as dance, the ensemble grew through collaborative work. Each performer is an artist, and individual growth is collective growth.
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ARTISTS AT WORK In FY19 New York Live Arts: · Presented 112 Artists · Produced 105 in house performances & events · Served 7505 audience members
Fresh Tracks
· 54 year strong legacy program · 5 Emerging Artists · 250 studio hours · Fully produced theater performance · New work in-progress showing 2018-19 Fresh Tracks artists: J. Bouey, Emma Rose Brown, Liana Conyers, Collin Ranf, and Dolores “Lola” Sanchez.
Live Feed · 14 Artists
Kota Yamazaki / Fluid hug-hug’s Darkness Odyssey Part 3: Non-opera, Becoming, photo by Ian Douglas
· Multi-year support · 700 studio hours · 5 work in-progress showings · 7 fully produced works 2019-20 Live Feed mainstage artists: DANCENOISE, Molly Lieber & Eleanor Smith, Jennifer Nugent & Paul Matteson, Kaneza Schaal, Bill Shannon, Kota Yamazaki/Fluid hug-hug, and Netta Yerushalmy.
Live Artery · 16 Artists · 4 days · 19 shows and in-progress showings FY19’s dynamic showcase of new and recent works presented during the annual Association of Performing Arts Professional’s conference included work by Live Arts Resident Artists, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, and curated guests. 14
Jennifer Nugent & Paul Matteson’s another piece apart, photo by David Gonsier
Randjelović/Stryker Resident Commissioned Artist (RCA), Raja Feather Kelly One of the most substantial awards for a choreographer in the United States · 2 years · 250 studio hours · Full salary · Health benefits · New work premiere at New York Live Arts · Opportunity to tour “If there were such a word for feeling honored, seen, heard, respected, scared, excited, hopeful and humbled all at the same time, I would use it right now. To be chosen for such an esteemed award such as the New York Live Arts Randjelović/ Stryker Resident Commissioned Artist seemed impossible to me until now. My company of performers and collaborators have persevered through the unimaginable - though we dissect popular culture, we do not make popular work. To have this comprehensive support, at this time, from New York Live Arts makes us beyond grateful and excited to continue using our creations to celebrate and interrogate identity, genre, empathy and ethics.” - Raja Feather Kelly
“Mr. Kelly’s fusion of dance and theater shifts seamlessly from absurd to cheeky to the unexpectedly and piercingly sincere.” — New York Times
Since its inception, the Randjelović/Stryker Resident Commissioned Artist program has received lead support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and has been named for lead donors New York Live Arts Board Vice Chair Slobodan Randjelović, and Jon Stryker. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation continues to be instrumental in one of Live Arts’ signature programs for artist development, and it’s ongoing support is vital to the continuation of the program. In fact, through increased support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation we were able to raise the RCA artist annual salary by 39% starting January 2019.
Raja Feather Kelly, photo by Kate Unman
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ARE YOU BRAVE ENOUGH... Live Ideas · 5 days · 10 panels & readings · 5 sold out performances · 4 workshops · 54 artists & practitioners This year our annual humanities festival, Live Ideas, interrogated a future with artificial intelligence (AI) that promises to revolutionize human existence. AI: Are You Brave Enough for The Brave New World? unfolded across five days of discourse, performances, exhibitions, classes for adults and young people, and a HACK-ARTTHON, bringing artificial intelligence to the general public from the perspective of its societal, cultural and artistic implications.
Algorave, photo by Ian Douglas
Festival Programming · What is AI? · Future of Work · Music and AI · Does Truth Need Defending? · Algorave · Robotics for Kids · AI X Art
· Machine Learning for Artists · How to Question Technology · Interactive Lobby Installations · HACK-ART-THON · Performances
Lead Support: Google
Helga Davis with See Sound Installation, photo by Ian Douglas
Additional Support:
ACE Hotel New York Carnegie Mellon University Humanities New York Japan Foundation Otter Perfetto Contracting Company Samuel M. Levy Family Foundation The Educational Therapists
Advisors:
Shoham Arad, Brady Dehn, Daniel Dulitz, Kathryn Heidemann, Matt Kudish, Matthew Putman*, Alanna Rutherford*, Yana Buhrer Tavanier, Robyn Trani, and the Google Creative Lab team * New York Live Arts Board Member
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Robotics for Kids, photo by Ian Douglas
02. Manifesto via billtjonesai.com
LEADERSHIP VISION INFLUENCE IMPACT Bill T. Jones X Google Creative Lab Body, Movement, Language is a collection of experiments that resulted from a two-way residency between Bill T. Jones and Google Creative Lab. Inspired by Bill’s long history of intertwining improvised speech and dance, these experiments use AI to invite users to explore the creative possibilities of speech and movement and make new connections with Jones’ iconic work, using nothing more than a laptop. Please visit billtjonesai.com to participate!
Bill Chats Bill T. Jones with Oskar Eustis, photo by Ian Douglas
Hank Willis Thomas Oskar Eustis Tracy K. Smith & Claudia Rankine Engaging audiences in discussion with public figures known for their leadership, influence, and visionary impact on the fields of arts and culture.
Open Spectrum Curated in partnership with Brian Tate | The Tate group, Open Spectrum continued to be a timely space for community dialogue on the most vital issues including Right to Bear Arms presented in partnership with For Freedoms, Brilliant Darkness, A Conversation with Artists on Mental Health, and Paradigm Shift - A Conversation On the Kind of Leadership America Needs Now. Bill T. Jones with Claudia Rankine and Tracy K. Smith, photo by Ian Douglas
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...FOR THE BRAVE NEW WORLD?
Live Ideas mainstage performance discrete figures 2019, photo by TomoyaTakeshita
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Live Ideas: discrete figures 2019 · 4 Days · 5 Dancers from Japan · 5 Drones · 5 SOLD OUT performances · 920 audience members The New York City premiere of discrete figures 2019 the collaboration between Japanese companies Rhizomatiks Research and ELEVENPLAY, and American media artist Kyle McDonald was the headliner for the mainstage of this year’s festival. Inspired by mathematician Alan Turing, this expansive multidisciplinary collaboration between contemporary mathematicians, dancers, media artists, composers, and engineers created a complex experimental augmented reality performance.
Truly a first of its kind, discrete figures probed the circuitry connecting the corporeal to the cognitive, questioning the very essence of humanity and machine.
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SEARCH & RESEARCH
MiMi (Mention it/Manage it) winners NIA LAUREANO and KEIRA HEU-JWYN CHAN with judges Stephanie Pereira, Kevin Cunningham, Jane Bovingdon Semel*, Bill T. Jones* and Janet Wong, photo by Ian Douglas
Breaking the Stigma Around Mental Illness During the 2019 Live Ideas festival, New York Live Arts held its first ever HACK-ART-THON in partnership with FINE ACTS, a Live Arts fiscally sponsored entity, and National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI NYC). Eight pairs of carefully selected and matched Fellows, an artist and an AI technologist, took part in a two-day HACK-ART-THON to work on prototype art and technology projects that would raise awareness or contribute to a concrete solution for Breaking the Stigma around Mental Illness. The Fellows were required to use some form of AI in their project. Mentors from the fields of technology, art/activism, mental health and PR & presentation advised the Fellows throughout the process. The prototypes were presented in front of a jury and audience, and the winning team received a $5000 grant from New York Live Arts to continue developing their project. Other prizes included year-long mentorship and support, artist residencies, opportunities to present work and more. * New York Live Arts Board Member
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Feminist Dinner Party guests, photo by Ian Douglas
Femininst Dinner Party Live Arts held its first celebration of Women’s History Month with artist Liliana Dirks-Goodman’s Dinner Party: 1960s-2000s, a performance installation that explored feminist history and community building through the act of sharing a meal. Set in the 2nd wave feminist movement, the work addressed trauma, body autonomy, and the erotic in an act of remembering that aimed to empower participants to imagine a liberated future. The food and the table settings were designed as a riff on feminist artist, Judy Chicago’s Dinner Party to look at and be critical of advances in domestic life that have given women greater freedom and autonomy. Attendees conversed with the artists and other guests while dining on comfort food by chef Kristin Worrall served on place settings designed and fabricated by Dirks-Goodman. The evening ended with guided meditation led by Regina Rocke.
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21ST CENTURY LIBERATION Live Arts Pride 2019: The House Party - 50 for 50 Live Arts’ hosted its second annual Pride event, an epic 6-hour celebration honoring the historical importance and unwavering power of collectives in LGBTQAI culture and paying tribute to the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. This event was dedicated to the memory of Arnie Zane with a portion of proceeds donated to Callen-Lorde in his name. Both legendary and young families from NYC’s queer nightlife and art scene came together under one roof to serve up the city’s most colorful and fierce performance, music, queer marketplace, installations and more for a multi-space, nonstop celebration for the ages.
The Line Up BUBBLE_T PAPI JUICE
Pearl Harbor, Switch n’ Play, photo by Santiago Felipe
HOUSE OF LABEIJA RAGGA SWITCH N’ PLAY Queer Marketplace
Featuring designers Valentine Amartey, Alexis Bittar, Ten Yards Clothing, Domonique Echeverria, and Planet Modah Cosmetic Sponsored by:
Bite Catering
A portion of proceeds were donated to Callen-Lorde
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Linda LeBeija, House of LaBeija, photo by Santiago Felipe
Oscar Nñ, Papi Juice, photo by Santiago Felipe
Shanekia McIntosh, RAGGA, Photo: House of Labeija by photo by Santiago Felipe
Pride party-goer, photo by Santiago Felipe
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LIVE GALLERY
Avram Finkelstein and Rodrigo Moreira/Visual AIDS Live Gallery Installation, photo by Michael McFadden
2018-19 Installations Derrick Adams, The Journey Continues Lily Baldwin, Quick Slice in conjunction with Netta Yerushalmy’s Paramodernities Avram Finkelstein and Rodrigo Moreira, What Is 21st Century Liberation? produced in conjunction with Visual AIDS’ 2019 Pride Broadsheet project Chris Myers, The Cotillion Installation in conjuction with Kaneza Schaal’s Jack &
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Live Ideas Interactive Installations Rama Allen and creative team at The Mill, See Sound Bill T. Jones and Google Creative Lab, Body, Movement, Language Christa Sommerer & Laurent Mignonneau, Portrait on the Fly Aman Tiwari and Gray Crawford, Xoromancy (2019)
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EMPOWER & EDUCATE
Pre-show discrete figures 2019 during the Live Ideas festival, photo by Ian Douglas
Live Core · 170 Artist Members · Elevate & Propel · Connect & Empower · Support & Enliven · New York City & Beyond Artist services at New York Live Arts position us as a creative incubator, network, and platform for artists to elevate and propel their ideas forward. Utilizing the resources of New York Live Arts, this program empowers artists to connect with larger audiences, raise funds through fiscal sponsorship, and engage with industry professionals and fellow members to bolster their professional and artistic development.
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Putting creativity front and center, Live Core artists enliven the ecology of performance in New York City and beyond.
Susan Rethorst (pictured) and Bebe Miller’s Shared Practice workshop, photo by Ian Douglas
Over 300 youth engage with New York Live Arts education programs annually.
Elevate An initiative established with New York City Department of Correction to provide arts education programs for youthful detainees ages 16-18 at the George Motchan Detention Center on Rikers Island. Â
James Baldwin School Live Created in 2014 through LIVE IDEAS: JAMES BALDWIN, THIS TIME! This year we continued the collaboration through JBS Live to broaden the artistic experiences of underserved high school students.
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company Open Class & Master Workshops Each year we hold a number of classes and workshops taught by Bill T. Jones, Janet Wong, and/or members of the company. These classes are designed to give professional and pre-professional dancers insight into the process and style of the company.
Shared Practice Shared practice workshops were taught by select season artists to give experienced dancers an opportunity to go further into the practice of the artists on our stage. New York Live Arts Annual Report FY19 | 27
STRATEGIZING THE FUTURE IMPACT Do our goals represent significant added value to the world of dance and the creative arts?
INTEREST
Do our stakeholders want what we propose to deliver?
INNOVATION Are we being innovative and transformative?
VIABILITY Do we see our strategy as viable?
New York Live Arts is an organization devoted to the creation of live art that elevates the human spirit and brings people together in shared humanity. At the core of our programming is the belief that art has the ability to create communities and platforms for the exchange of ideas. Amidst our absolute certainty of the value of live performative presentation, we also know that the field of experimental performative work and the arts presenter field as a whole, are experiencing both diminishing performance opportunities and reduced funding. For at least ten years, many of us have been discussing the growing challenge of audience engagement, the “graying of audiences,� and the decline of ticket sales and subscription-based platforms, all of which have resulted in shrinking presenting seasons. We must note that many industries are being confronted with serious economic disruption and are facing similar challenges. The profound technological and demographic changes taking place due to the prevalence of virtual 28
entertainment, the implications of open source software, and new distribution platforms are affecting a variety of fields and innovation is key. Presenting organizations such as New York LiveArts have been laser focused on maintenance and survival, leaving little time or resources for exploring alternative models. Is this the correct approach? Is it possible to consider altering our model in order to stay relevant and viable? The tighter we grasp on to the status quo, the less room there is for a new model to evolve. Are we willing to let go of what we think we must be in order to imagine what we can be? Over the last four years, we have undergone tremendous restructuring requiring lots of internal dialogue, compromises and strong determination to rebalance. We have come out on the other side and have proven we are not afraid to experiment. Having brought order and financial stability to our organization we now have the opportunity, and in fact the responsibility, to look toward the future and explore what the next five years at New York Live Arts might look like. This includes focusing on Bill T. Jones as artist and artistic thought-leader of our organization, building a bridge to theater, and serving young artists by exploring new presentation models. We know these initiatives are not mutually exclusive. In fact, our future will likely include an amalgamation of ideas. Can we strive to be innovative in a way that encourages and funds the very disruptions that may cause our organization to radically change, and paradoxically to be sustained over the long run?
Marta Siberio, Retreat Facilitator
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SUPPORT AND FINANCES Membership
New York Live Arts Members deepen their experiences as part of the Live Arts audience with ticket discounts, special events and opportunities to learn about the creative and intellectual forces shaping the future. Membership contributions help us create a place that is vital to the social and cultural fabric of New York City.
Patrons Circle
Patrons of New York Live Arts believe in the transformative power of art, and give generously to foster a home for performers at all levels in their career.
Partners for New Performance
Partners for New Performance is a social opportunity for like-minded individuals to support New York Live Arts’ many platforms for new work creation and live gathering. Serving as a cultural lever for societal change, this group will support emerging and mid-career artists in development and presentation of work, as well as New York Live Arts’ cultural engagement programs. Partners for New Performance supports artists and cultural exchange through the following programs: Live Feed, Fresh Tracks, Bill Chats, Open Spectrum Community Dialogues, and the Live Ideas Festival.
Partners in Creation
Partners in Creation (PIC), a benefactor program of the Bill T. Jones/ Arnie Zane Company, gives its members a singular level of access to Bill T. Jones’ legendary artistic process and allows them to develop a relationship with one of the preeminent artists of our time. Partners engage with Bill, his collaborators and the members of his company as they travel the intricate and often revelatory journey of creating or re-envisioning signature works. Their participation and financial support preserves artistic freedom and innovation, while ensuring the company’s financial stability during the unpredictable process of creation. New York Live Arts is defined by the people who contribute their time, talents, and financial support to make us the strong organization we are today. We are fortunate to have a dedicated, diverse, and expanding group of exceptional leaders and board members, hundreds of generous donors, friends, and sponsors.
Board of Directors
Stephen Hendel, Co-Chair Richard H. Levy, Co-Chair Helen Haje, Vice Chair Slobodan Randjelović, Vice Chair Alan Marks,Treasurer Alanna Rutherford, Secretary Kim Cullen, Executive Director & CEO, Ex-Officio Bill T. Jones, Artistic Director, Ex-Officio Bjorn Amelan Sarah Arison
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Colleen Keegan Amy Newman Randy Polumbo Ellen M. Poss Matthew Putman Jane Bovingdon Semel Ruby Shang Catharine R. Stimpson Diana Wege Derek Brown, Board Emeritus Terence Dougherty, Board Emeritus
Staff
Artistic Leadership Bill T. Jones Artistic Director Janet Wong Associate Artistic Director Programming, Producing & Engagement Kyle Maude Producing Director Hannah Emerson Producing Associate Veronica Falborn Producing Associate & Production Stage Manager Gregory English Rentals Coordinator Production Hillery Makatura Director of Production Kristiana Cowcer Production Coordinator Lauren Libretti Lighting Supervisor Ryan Naso Technical Director Lindsay Kipnis Stage Manager Anya Kopischke, Wendy Kraemer, Rachel Kreidberg, Elmer Martinez Production Apprentices Creative Director Bjorn G. Amelan Finance Nupur Dey Director of Finance Artlin Hawthorne Finance Associate Lutz and Carr Certified Public Accountants
Executive Leadership Kim Cullen Executive Director & CEO Development Dave Archuletta Chief Development Officer Ali Burke Individual Giving & Special Events Manager Lisa Willis Institutional Giving Manager Bianca Bailey Artist Services & Membership Associate Séverine Kaufman Development Assistant Hans Rasch Institutional Giving Assistant Communications Tyler Ashley Director of Communications Charles O’Leary Digital Media Coordinator Mayadevi Ross Communications Assistant Hannah Seiden , Eli Tamondong Front of House Coordinators Alden Henderson, Kemba Barnes, Pamyla Cummings, Paulina Meneses, Julia Antinozzi Front of House Staff Liliana Dirks-Goodman Graphic Designer Pentagram Pro-Bono Branding Legal Services Lowenstein Sandler, PC Pro-Bono Counsel
Human Resources ADP TotalSource
Advisory Council Margaret Doyle, Chair Alberta Arthurs Beverly D’Anne Lisa Frigand Jenette Kahn
Susan Micari Alton Murray Lorraine Gallard Lois Greenfield Martha Sherman
Support for New York Live Arts is provided by Con Edison, Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, Dance/NYC, Gladys Krieble Delmas, the Ford Foundation, Harkness Foundation for Dance, Marta Heflin Foundation, Alice Lawrence Foundation, Samuel M. Levy Family Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, National Performance Network, New England Foundation for the Arts, Otter, The William Penn Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Jerome Robbins Foundation, The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Scherman Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, and Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Public support for New York Live Arts is from Humanities New York, National Endowment for the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. We thank individual supporters: Anonymous, Chris Anderson, The Jody and John Arnhold Foundation, Patricia Blanchet, Derick Brown & Deborah Hellman, Robert Browne, Christopher Carter, Claire Danes & Hugh Dancy, David A. Dechman & Michele Mercure, Colleen Keegan*, Anne Delaney, Rakan El-Khalil, Zoe Eskin, Michael Field, Adam Flatto, Eleanor Friedman & Jonathan Cohen, Lorraine Gallard & Richard H. Levy*, Patricia Gallup, Agnes Gund, Stephen* & Ruth Hendel, Helen* & Peter Haje, Alexes Hazen, James Hormel and Michael Nguyen, Bill T. Jones & Bjorn Amelan, Suzanne Karpas, Wendy & Jeffrey Liszt, Robert Longo, Barbara & Alan Marks*, Meridee Moore & Kevin King, Amy Newman* & Bud Shulman, Jacqueline Novogratz & Chris Anderson, Mark O’Donnell, Julie Orlando, Lisa PevaroffCohn & Gary Cohn, Ellen M. Poss*, Randy Polumbo*, Robert Puddicombe, Matthew Putman*, Slobodan Randjelović* & Jon Stryker, Deborah Ronnen, Andrea Rosen, Alanna Rutherford*, Jane Bovingdon Semel* & Terry Semel, Rachel Shapiro & Chris Grymes, In memory of Linda G. Shapiro, Cindy Sherman, Catharine R. Stimpson*, Nina Stricker, Pat Stryker, Carol Tolan, Robyn Trani, Billie Tsien & Tod Williams, Diana Wege*. * New York Live Arts Board Member For a full list, please see newyorklivearts.org/support/contributors
10% Fundraising
10% Fundraising
8% Admin
8% Admin
81% Programming
81% Programming
2018-19 Operating Expenses*
2017-18 Operating Expenses
Consolidated Balance Sheet
FY19
FY18
$1,704,367 $5,101 $360,629 $244,080 $87,334 $5,765,913 $95,525
$1,360,422 $95,225 $1,333,626 $3,981,935 $88,095
$2,155,181 $1,921,888
$69,300 $1,706,439
$72,393 $55,338 $6,644,123
$51,279 $76,602 $6,837,624
$358,932 -
$358,932 $358,510
$19,471,107
$16,297,007
$427,550 $37,500 $4,612,113 $5,077,163
$319,760 $39,040 $4,624,883 $215,654 $5,199,336
$10,002,243 $4,391,701 $14,393,944
$9,275,446 $1,822,225 $11,097,671
$19,471,107
$16,297,007
ASSETS Operating cash accounts Mortgage cash accounts Board designated reserve fund Restricted Cash Income Deff. Maint. & Cap. reserve Treasury Bond Investment Mortgage required reseve fund Unconditional promises to give Unrestricted Restricted for future programs or periods Accounts Receivable Prepaid expenses & other current assets Property & equipment, at cost, net of accum. depreciation Artwork held available for sale IDA financing Escrow Account
TOTAL ASSETS Liabilities and Net Assets Liabilities Accounts payable & accued expenses Deferred revenue Mortgage payable IDA financing obligation, non-current Total Liabilities
Net Assets Unrestricted Temporarily restricted Total net assets
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS * unaudited as of September 2019
New York Live Arts Annual Report FY19 | 31
LEAD THE WAY With all that is happening globally and within our borders our mission to be a conduit for engagement through the arts is increasingly relevant. The repertoire we present and the conversations we host work to address themes spanning personal and communal responsibility, racism, gender equality, and civil liberties, elevating the human spirit and bringing people together in shared humanity. There are multiple ways people can tangibly demonstrate that what we do matters. One is to attend a performance or a rehearsal. Another is to spread the word about what we’re doing through social media or a conversation. And another is to support the organization so it can provide space and time for the artist to look deep within, perhaps the most human act.
Together we provide a platform to take that vision and project it out into the world. Your part in all of this is vital, thank you!
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Bill T. Jones at the 2019 Live Ideas Gala, photo by Maria Baranova
New York Live Arts Annual Report FY19
219 W 19th Street New York, NY 10011 212.691.6500 newyorklivearts.org New York Live Arts @nylivearts @newyorklivearts
“This is what American arts are supposed to be. People taking chances.� - Bill T. Jones