LIVE IN THE ORANGE PHOTOSHOOT
Orange you curious what all the orange is about???
On April 25, 2024, the Broadway community came together for the fifth annual “Live in the Orange” photoshoot in support of arts education programming in NYC public schools. Featuring stunning portraits by Michael Hull Photography and coordinated by Broadway for Arts Education, Broadway Plus, and the Museum of Broadway, these incredible Broadway performers and organizations teamed up with the Arts in Education Round Table’s “It Starts With The Arts” campaign to amplify their advocacy!
Broadway for Arts Education (BAE) has been transforming school cultures through engaging and relevant arts education programs in New York City since 2017. In this most recent school year (23-24), BAE facilitated arts education residencies with 8 different schools and community partners, averaging more than 40 dance, music, theater, creative literacy, and production classes every week! Programs were led by a team of teaching artists working with hundreds of students both during the school day and after school. Over the past 12 months, BAE produced 5 full productions (Xanadu, Once On This Island, Little Shop of Horrors, A Change for A Change, and The Normal Heart), awarded $11,000 in scholarships and internships, received awards for LGBTQIA+ Inclusive Curriculum and for Arts and Family Engagement, and created multiple community events (Art Share, Broadway Rave, and In The Heights Reading to name a few).
This year’s “It Starts With The Arts” campaign by The Arts in Education Roundtable yielded incredible results that we are proud to amplify. Check out this message from the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable Executive Director, Kimberly Olsen.
On Sunday afternoon, June 30, 2024, the City Council adopted a $112.4 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 for New York City, just in time for the July 1 deadline. The FY2025 Budget reverses all the cuts to cultural institutions and libraries, adds $2 billion in capital funding over the next two years to support the creation and preservation of affordable housing, and introduces several new City Council initiatives. New and restored funding for education is a highlight of this budget, with close to $270 million added for public schools and early childhood programs.
As it relates to our sector and the “It Starts with the Arts” campaign:
Department of Cultural Affairs: The Department of Cultural Affairs funding remained intact with a $53M restoration that reversed all cuts to the Cultural Development Fund and the Cultural Institutions Groups and added $45 million to Fiscal 2025 — bringing the agency’s budget to ~$253.9 million, the largest-ever DCLA allocation for an upcoming fiscal year at Adoption.
Replacing COVID-era funds for Arts Education: The FY 2025 budget restores $41M in expiring federal funding that NYC put towards arts instruction and partnerships. We are awaiting more information about the funding and how it will be allocated in the upcoming year.
Support for Arts Instruction: This upcoming budget sustains funding for “Support for Arts Instruction”. The $4M initiative - which began in FY 2023 – will support standards-based arts instruction programs with a focus on increasing access to the arts and supporting pathways for sequential arts learning.
Cultural After School Adventures: $17.34M is allocated to CASA, remaining the same from FY 2024. This currently works out to 17 CASA allocations per City Council member. Many providers have already been designated at adoption, and City Council will designate $2.66M in the coming months. We highly encourage checking Schedule C for a list of organizations who have been designated funding so far (pg. 26-51).
SU-CASA: $3.825M is allocated to the SU-CASA initiative (community arts engagement program at senior centers), remaining the same from FY 2024. This works out to ~$145k per City Council district.
Cultural Immigrant Initiative: $7.395M is allocated to the Cultural Immigrant Initiative, remaining the same from FY 2024. Similar to CASA, many providers have already been designated at adoption, and City Council will designate $755k post-adoption (see pg. 52-63 in Schedule C for a list of organizations who have been designated funding so far).
Per Student Funding for Arts Education: Via the Arts Supplemental Funding through Fair Student Funding School Allocation Memo, NYC Public Schools now recommends that schools spend at least $86.67 per student on arts education programming (an increase from $80.47 in FY 2024) — a step closer to the Roundtable’s platform of $100 per student. The allocations reflect growth for increased salary costs due to collective bargaining agreements, yet the funding remains a recommendation instead of a requirement.
We thank YOU, our community, for your tireless efforts and advocacy: mailing postcards, sending emails, participating in rallies, delivering testimony, and more! We could not have this type of impact without your partnership and support!
We also thank our representatives in government, especially Council Members Justin Brannan (Finance Chair), Keith Powers, Rita Joseph (Education Chair), Carlina Rivera (Cultural Affairs Chair), and Speaker Adrienne Adams and her leadership team for their recognition of the importance of arts education in our schools and communities. The Roundtable looks forward to working with you and our partners in the City Council, Adams Administration, and NYC Public Schools to build on this foundation and push for arts education for all. Click here to read the Roundtable’s official response to the FY 2025 budget announcement.
What next?
More Budget News to Come: Throughout the summer, NYC Public Schools will continue publishing School Allocation Memorandums that give money to schools for specific purposes (such as services, teachers, and supplies). We are closely watching arts-related funding lines as well as enrollment levels’ impact on school funding.
Thank Your Representatives: It is so important that we thank our elected officials for investing in arts, culture, and arts education. Please join us in thanking your City Council representative and feel free to use the social media copy below. Not sure who your Council Member is? Enter your address at this website: https://council.nyc.gov/districts/
Thank you to @nyccouncil @nycmayor [tag your city representatives] for their support of arts education in the city’s budget! Investment in arts, culture, and arts ed is an investment in the future of our City and our students. #ItStartsWithTheArts
While there is still a long road ahead to reaching equity in access to arts education, we celebrate this step forward. The Roundtable will continue to share information and action steps as they become available. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out via email at kolsen@nycaieroundtable.org.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Olsen
Executive Director
NYC Arts in Education Roundtable
What does “Live in the Orange” mean??
From the classroom to the boardroom and everywhere in between, the mantra “Live in the Orange” (LITO) helps remind us to define, respect, and challenge our boundaries. Just as there are many different shades of orange, there are many different ways in which people show up to any situation or challenge. Awareness of this helps us better understand our relationship with ourselves, our relationships with others, and our relationships with the systems in which we coexist. Having a color-coded shorthand to express complex emotional and social states of being helps our community maintain a culture of nurturing, of experimentation, of trust, and of joy! Try it out yourself and do a scan of your relationships, your work responsibilities, and how you show up in society. What areas are teetering on red that may need a green reset? What areas are green that could use an orange refresh? How can you cherish and protect the areas that are in a healthy state of orange?
