Biennial Report 2011-2012 Working since 1971 to empower artists

at critical stages in their creative lives.

Our annual impact:

$1 million in grants to artists and emerging organizations

$3 million raised by fiscally sponsored projects

1,500 artists provided with training, consultation and mentorship

1 million users of our online resources

“To be recognized by NYFA gave us a credibility that was very important to us, and the money really meant a lot. We really needed it to support ourselves.” -

Elizabeth Diller & Ricardo Scofidio2012 Hall of Fame Honorees

Elizabeth Diller & Ricardo Scofidio

Orit Ben Shitrit, 2012 Video Fellow

Dear NYFA community,Over the last two years, NYFA has continued to grow and develop as an organization. We are proud to be operating with regular budget surpluses, and this fiscal responsibility has enabled us to focus on increasing our core services and developing new initiatives. One of our major accomplishments has been the launch of the website for our new national sub-brand, Artspire. The Artspire website currently provides a platform for our Fiscal Sponsorship program, where artists can receive donations, manage their finances and increase the visibilty of their projects. Soon, the Artspire site will house all of our national and online programs, with increased interactivity and social-media functionality. This is a big step for us, which will continue to develop and expand in the coming years, and change how we interact with our community.

Alongside our long-standing grant-making and fiscal sponsorship activities, we have significantly increased our professional development and business training support to artists through NYFA Learning. We are particularly proud of the success of our Artist as Entrepreneur Boot Camp, a series of intensive career training workshops for artists across disciplines. It has been the subject of features in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and has been developed into a book, The Profitable Artist, which is now in its second printing. Our Learning programs are complemented by our increasing efforts to provide artists with professional networks and resources. NYFA Source now provides over 10,500 listings and is the nation’s largest searchable database of ongoing opportunities and resources for artists. One of our newest services, our Curatorial Program, created presentation opportunities for 111 artists during 2011 and 2012. We placed work in corporate headquarters and public places such as Booz & Co., the Pulse Art Fair, and the Governor’s Island Art Fair, and many other venues, and in FY13 we are furthering this work by partnering with organizations to provide NYFA-affiliated artists with studio residencies.

Looking toward the future, in 2012 we had the opportunity to develop a new strategic plan, with the generous pro-bono support of McKinsey & Co. Assessing our existing strategic plan (which was adopted in 2007) and discussing changes in the field, we identified some important new initiatives that will continue NYFA’s organizational growth and shape our future. These initiatives will see us further developing our corporate and individual fundraising and increasing our services to artists by leveraging NYFA’s reputation and networks to provide them with more opportunities to connect with peers, patrons, and audiences.

Our plans are ambitious, but I know that with the ongoing and tireless work of our dedicated staff (the majority of whom are artists themselves), committed Board of Directors, and generous funders, we will achieve our goals. It is my honor to be at the helm of an organization dedicated to artists and their important work, and I continue to be humbled by their efforts and accomplishments.

Sincerely,

Michael L. Royce, Executive Director

Highlights:We launched www.artspire.org, the website for our new national sub-brand

We published the book The Profitable Artist, developing our successful Boot Camp for Artists curriculum into a business skills resource for artists working in any discipline.

We expanded our curatorial program into a dynamic service that connects artists with venues, patrons and audiences for their mutual benefit.

We completed a new strategic plan for the next five years with the pro-bono support of McKinsey & Company.

FINANCIAL SUPPORTArtspire FISCAL SPONSORSHIPArtspire, NYFA’s Fiscal Sponsorship program, enables individual artists and emerging arts organizations in all disciplines to raise funds using our tax-exempt status. There are 728 projects currently enrolled; a 28% increase since our last report. In FY11 the participants in the program raised $2.8 million and in FY12 they raised $3.4, adding to a total of over $50 million since the program started. The Artspire website, launched in FY11, has added a new level of support to this program, enabling sponsored projects to conduct online marketing, fundraising and financial management.

Artist’s Fellowship ProgramThe Artist Fellowships Program provides unrestricted grants of $7,000, recognizing artists throughout New York State for their vision, potential and promise. Since the Fellowship Program’s beginning in 1984, NYFA has awarded over $26 million to 4,400 artists. This unrestricted grant is catalytic financial and professional support, validating artist’s work and helping them take the next step in their careers. In 2012 we were proud to introduce the category of folk/traditional arts to better serve New York’s diverse community of artists. As an initiative to extend the benefits of the award to a greater number of artists, we also named 3 Finalists in each discipline, for a total of 15 in each year.

Strategic Opportunity Stipends2012 was the last year of the Strategic Opportunity Stipend (SOS) program, which has provided support for artists in New York outside of New York City since 1990. In its 22 years, the program provided over $1.1 million in timely cash grants, administered by partner organizations across the State. These grants enabled artists to take advantage of specific, imminent opportunities to significantly advance their work or career development: transportation to festivals and residencies, preparation of artwork for exhibition, production of materials related to exhibitions and performances, and documentation of projects. It has been an honor to conduct this program in collaboration with our partners across New York State, and with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. Related funds have been moved into NYSCA’s Decentralization Program.

The Andrew W. Mellon New York Theater ProgramNYFA is proud to have been selected by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in 2008 to administer their New York City Theater Program, which provides three-year grants to exceptional mid-sized theater companies throughout New York City. In the first cycle of the program, 2008-2011, we awarded $2.2 million to 33 NYC based not-for-profit theaters, selected by a panel of industry leaders. In the current cycle, which concludes in 2013, $3 million will be awarded to 31 companies, including Atlantic Theater Company, National Asian American Theatre Company, New York City Players, Pregones, and Women’s Project & Productions. We are honored to have been invited to administered the program once again for the 2013 & 2015 cycles.

BUILD (Buidling Up Infrastructure Levels for Dance)NYFA’s BUILD Program provides infrastructure, community building and general operating support to dance companies, empowering them to financially and professionally to pursue their work. Since 1999, BUILD has awarded 110 grants to emerging dance companies in New York City, for a total of over $1.1 million dollars in crucial capacity-building support, contributing to the strength and vitality of the city’s dance community. Through BUILD we also conduct professional development programs focused on helping dancers to establish effective and sustainable practices. In addition, our NYFA Learning programs provide further professional development opportunities relevant to performing artists, such as our Artist As Entrepreneur Boot Camp, a cross-disciplinary curriculum of intensive workshops designed to foster artists’ business and planning skills. During FY11 & Fy12 we awarded a total of $160,500 to 19 companies.

In 2011 we announced 104 Fellowships and 15 Finalists in the following disciplines: Crafts/Sculpture; Digital/Electronic Work; Nonfiction Literature; Printmaking/Drawing/Book Arts, and Poetry.

In 2012 we announced 94 Fellowships and 15 Finalists in the following disciplines: Fiction; Film/Video; Folk/Traditional Arts; Interdisciplinary Work, and Painting.

The Basil H. Alkazzi Award for Excellence in Painting was awarded to Gabriele Evertz and Holly Sears, who each received $20,000.

The Artist’s Fellowship Program is supported by the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, and Basil Alkazzi.

NYFA’s new national sub-brand, Artspire.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT NYFA Learning encompasses NYFA’s professional development programs, which includes panels, workshops, individual consultations and professional training opportunities conducted at NYFA’s offices in DUMBO and other locations throughout the city, state, and country. This includes a number of ongoing programs, as well as special events and one-time programs. We work to collaborate with our peers in the field, such as El Museo del Barrio and Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center, to reach new audiences and establish stronger networks of support for our constituents, as we continue to provide resources to increase their self-sufficiency.

Our successful Artist as Entrepreneur Boot Camp provides intensive business-of-art training that is applicable to artists working in any discipline. Since launching in 2010, with the support of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, we are now offering the program on an independent basis, providing training to 177 artists over the past two years. The Boot Camp curriculum became the foundation for The Profitable Artist, a business training guide-book for artists that we published in November, 2011 and is now in its second printing.

Boot Camp was also supported in 2011 by the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

NYFA MARK provides professional development for visual artists in New York State, and fosters a statewide community/network to support their practices. In 2012, we integrated MARK with the Boot Camp curriculum, increasing the efficacy of our training, and we worked extensively with MARK alumni as consultants for artists in their regions/communities, as a way to deepen our support of individual artists and local networks. We provided training to 86 artists in 2011 and 85 in 2012.

Funding for NYFA MARK in 2011-2012 was provided by the generous support from Golden Artist Colors and the Nason Foundation, the Emily Tremaine Foundation.

Doctor’s Hours offers one-on-one consultations with industry professionals, giving artists the chance to speak one-on-one with a professional in their discipline about their portfolio, artist statement, or artwork. We are now conducting these sessions on a monthly basis at our office in Brooklyn, serving approximately 400 artists each year. Consultants include a range of industry professionals and have expanded to offer special consultation sessions for filmmakers and immigrant artists, as well as a pro-bono legal clinic in collaboration with the New York State Bar Association.

The Immigrant Artist Project provides professional support to artists in New York City that share the experience of immigration, helping them to overcome barriers of culture and language. The Mentoring program, which gives artists the opportunity for a six-month one-on-one mentorship with a NYFA-affiliated artist, served 20 artists in FY11 and 18 in FY12; the Individual Consultation Initiative provided 131 artists with 30-minute one-on-one sessions with art world experts; the Con Edison IAP Newsletter, a monthly online publication of news, opportunity listings, artist features and professional support, increased circulation by 50%, for a total of 6,000 recipients.

In FY12, we also conducted the Folk Artist Development Program, providing 12 senior artists with professional support. With the support of the New York Community Trust we also provided five of our Mentees with the Van Lier Fellowship in support of young emerging artists.

The Immigrant Artist Project is made possible in part by the generous support of Consolidated Edison, the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, the MetLife Foundation, and the New York Community Trust.

The Profitable Artist, published in 2011 with Allworth Press.

NYFA Panel: Shifting Geographies - Current Perspectives on International Residencies

Doctor’s Hours consultations at NYFA’s offices in Brooklyn, NY.

ONLINE SERVICESOur website, www.nyfa.org, remains one of the pre-eminent sources of information and resources in the country, now reaching over 1 million visitors each year. In addition to information and resources for our programs, www.nyfa.org hosts a number of online resources for artists across disciplines including NYFA Classifieds, NYFA Podcasts, and NYFA Source.

NYFA Classifieds, our resource for one-time job, event, space and opportunity listings continues to be the most highly trafficked section of our website, posting an average of 450 listings each month, with an average of 150,000 views per month. Classifieds is an essential resource for artists and arts organizations seeking to find and post listings for jobs, events, space and opportunities, epitomizing our role as a hub for the arts community.

NYFA Podcasts offers a growing video archive of the professional development programs and events that we offer through our NYFA Learning and Fiscal Sponsorship programs, making them to the wider audience of our website on an ongoing basis. Between 2011-12 we added 27 new podcasts and saw an increase in viewership from 1,550 to 1,800 views a month.

NYFA Podcasts have been generously supported by McGraw Hill Companies.

NYFA Source is the nation’s largest online database of ongoing opportunities across artistic disciplines, currently featuring over 10,500 listings. The database is continuously updated, fully searchable and accompanied by individualized consultation through the Hotline [source@nyfa.org | 800-232-2789 (Mon-Fri, 3-5pm EST)]. During 2011 and 2012 the listings on the database grew 18%. We also expanded the special Emergency Resources section of the database, responding to the needs of constituents affected by natural disasters.

NYFA Source is supported by a dedicated consortium of funders, including Bazil Alkazzi, The Lily Auchincloss Foundation, The Merrill G. & Emita E. Hastings Foundation, The Hickory Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The Liman Foundation, The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, the Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Art, and in memory of Eva J. Pape

CURATORIAL SERVICESNYFA’s curatorial services were developed to create exhibition opportunities for NYFA-affiliated artists, forging connections with organizations, corporations and individuals. Our long-standing reputation and the relationships we have with the thousands of artists we serve has enabled us to develop a dynamic program that has expanded significantly over the past two years. We have produced exhibitions at 13 venues in New York City and State, presenting the work of 111 artists in venues including the Pulse Art Fair, the corporate offices of Fahrenheit 212, and the store-fronts of Main Street in Catskill, NY, and a wide range of other public and private events and projects. We also maintain a partnership with Barnes & Noble, conducting readings and talks at their 86th & Lexington location in Manhattan with leading artists, including photographer James Casebere, writer Jennifer Egan, and dancer-choreographers Eiko + Koma.

Governors Island Art Fair 2012Exhibition of NYFA Boot Camp Artists

Lauren Flanigan performs for ‘Extreme Talent in the Arts,’ an evening of art and performance curated by NYFA to celebrate Egon Zehnder’s 35 years in New York.

“Public Art: Demystifying the Process”L to R: Rachel Gourvitz (moderator), Kelly Pajek, Mary Miss, Lisa Kim

HALL OF FAMEWe are proud to have provided support to countless artists who have made vital and notable contributions to the field and have enriched the cultural landscape. At our annual benefit in 2011 we launched the NYFA Hall of Fame to recognize the accomplishment of artists who have had highly successful and impactful careers after receiving early career support from NYFA. We have significantly re-imagined and expanded the benefit to celebrate and recognize the work and achievements of the artists that we serve and the funders that make our work possible.

The inaugural 2011 honorees were filmmaker Todd Haynes, visual artist Andres Serrano, and dancer-choreographer Wendy Perron. The 2012 honorees were architects Elizabeth Diller & Ricardo Scofidio, playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, and multimedia artist Christian Marclay.

Each year we also honor exemplary philanthropic contributions. In 2011 we honored Kathleen O’Grady and in 2012 we honored Ben Rodriguez Cubenas.

OUR SUPPORTERS Lily Auchincloss Foundation Milton & Sally Avery Arts Fund Basil Alkazzi FoundationSusanna Bergtold Bessemer TrustMarnie BlackBloomberg PhilanthropiesBooth Ferris FoundationBroad Art FoundationJudith K. BrodskyBrooklyn Community FoundationCanadian Women’s Club of New YorkCapezio Ballet Makers Dance FoundationConsolidated EdisonPaula Cooper GalleryCowles Charitable TrustDeutsche Bank Americas FoundationAnita DurstFanwood FoundationFord FoundationFox Broadcasting Golden Artist ColorsCheryl GrandfieldHarkness Foundation for DanceJohn Burton Harter Charitable TrustHBOWilliam Randolph Hearst FoundationHickory FoundationMarc and Nina JasonJoelson FoundationJP Morgan Chase FoundationJ.M. Kaplan Fund Karl KellnerLambent FoundationThe Liman FoundationThe Limited FoundationLynda Logan Margret LouisMarjorie W. MartayAndrew W. Mellon FoundationMaurer Family FoundationMcGraw-Hill CompaniesMerrill G. and Emita E. Hastings FoundationMetLife Foundation

Anne Miller Nason FoundationNational Endowment for the ArtsNew York City Department of Cultural AffairsNew York Community TrustNew York State Council on the ArtsDavid Noble NYC Economic Development CorporationO’Grady Family FoundationKathleen O’GradyWm. J. and Dorothy K. O’Neill FoundationPollock-Krasner FoundationPaulanne QueenRichard QuigleyJoe ReeceRockefeller Brothers FundCarol RossHoward RothmanShelley & Donald Rubin FoundationScherman FoundationDavid SchroederMarie Walsh Sharpe Art FoundationShubert Foundation Marjorie SilvermanSt. Martin’s University Starfish Group/Brit-Louise GilderRobert Sterling Clark FoundationJ. Whitney StevensDavid StollerSha-Mayn TehTipping GardnerEmily Hall Tremaine Foundation Toby UsnikUBSAndy Warhol Foundation for the Visual ArtsShana C. WatermanLeah and Michael WeisbergJohn F. Williams IIElizabeth YeeZiff Brothers Investments - ZBI Employee Allocated Fund

Christian Marclay 2012 Hall of Fame honoree

StaffMichael L. Royce, Executive DirectorMark Rossier, Deputy DirectorJohn Beardsley, Executive AssistantCarmen Cuevas-Gomez, Administrative Assistant

PROGRAMS & AWARDS David C. Terry, Director of Programs/CuratorLauren van Haaften-Schick, Associate, Artists’ Fellowships

INFORMATION & SERVICES Eleanor Whitney, Program Officer, External Affairs & Fiscal SponsorshipCourtney Harge, Program Officer, Fiscal SponsorshipMatthew Seig, Media Specialist, Fiscal SponsorshipFelicity Hogan, Program Officer, NYFA Learning/NYFA Consults, MARK ProgramPeter Cobb, Program Officer, NYFA Learning/NYFA Consults, BUILDMaria Villafranca, Program Officer, Artist ResourcesMichon Ashmore, Program Associate, Digital AdvertisingToccarra Thomas, Program Associate, NYFA SourceLisa Szolovits, Researcher, Artist Resources

DEVELOPMENT & MARKETINGDavid Court, Program Officer, Institutional Giving Joey Lico, Individual Giving & Special Events OfficerMarie Williams, Researcher, New Initiatives

FINANCESebi Vitale, Director of FinanceTheresa Marchetta, Finance OfficerJoliana Hunter-Ellin, Finance Associate

Board of DirectorsCHAIRJ. Whitney Stevens

VICE CHAIRHoward Rothman, PartnerKramer, Levin, Naftalis & Frankel

TREASURERJohn F. Williams II, Chairman & CEOImpact Infrastructure, LLC

SECRETARYMargret Louis, Director of Government and External Affairs WNET

PAST IMMEDIATE CHAIRKathleen O'Grady, PresidentThe O'Grady Family Foundation

Marnie Black, Senior Vice President, CommunicationsAMC TV

Judith K. Brodsky, Founding DirectorBrodsky Center for Innovative Editions, Rutgers University

Anita Durst, Artistic Director Chashama

Marc Jason, Senior Counsel Amster, Rothstein & Ebenstein, LLP

Karl Kellner, PartnerMcKinsey & Company

Lynda Logan, Senior Vice President, Business DevelopmentWood MacKenzie

Marjorie W. Martay, Executive Vice PresidentNomad Editions

David Noble, Senior AdvisorEgon Zehnder International

Paulanne Queen, VP Operational Performance at Standard and Poor'sMcGraw-Hill

Richard Quigley, PresidentChase Business Card

Joe Reece, Managing DirectorCredit Suisse

Carol RossArtist

David Schroeder, Director, Jazz and Contemporary StudiesNew York University

Marjorie Silverman, PhD

David Stoller, Executive Chairman Pivot Entertainment

Toby Usnik, Senior Vice President & Head of Corporate CommunicationsChristie's International

Shana C. Waterman, Senior Vice President, Current ProgrammingFox Broadcasting Company

Elizabeth Yee, Director, Public Power and UtilitiesBarclays Capital

Luisa Kreisberg (Honorary Trustee), President (retired)The Kreisberg Group

Nathan Lyons, Trustee EmeritusArtist