Westbeth artists to lose essential work space

Storm Damaged Their Art, Now It May Take Their Studio Space
by Julie Satow, The New York Times, March 24, 2014

Martha Graham Center receives Mellon funds to digitize its archives

Graham Center Gets $1 Million for Dance Archive
by Michael Cooper, The New York Times, February 20, 2014

Join Danspace Project's Twitter party on arts activism, volunteerism

Lydia Bell of Danspace Project and Jason Maas of The Artist Volunteer Center will discuss the state of arts activism post-Hurricane Sandy via Twitter this Friday, November 15 from 4-5pm. 

Join the conversation by directing questions and thoughts to @DanspaceProject and @TheAVCenter using the hashtag #precariousart.

For information on Danspace Project's Performing the Precarious: Cut Piece program, click here.

Post-Sandy recovery in the NYC dance community

AFTER SANDY: RECOVERY, PREPAREDNESS, AND NYC DANCE

Tuesday, October 29, 6:30-8pm

The Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance
Graham Studio Theater
55 Bethune Street, Manhattan

(map/directions)

RSVP here

Join Dance/NYC at The Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance on the evening of October 29, the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy's arrival in New York, for an action-oriented discussion about the hurricane's impact on the dance community and its efforts to rebuild. What were the primary areas of damage and loss incurred by the field, and what progress has it made towards recovery? In the aftermath of the storm, how have dance makers strengthened their business practices, artistic development, and relationships with peers and the public? Led by Shirley Levy of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the panel will address these and other questions, and explore strategies for advancing the field's resilience to future disasters.

Featured Speakers:

Shirley Levy, Chief of Staff, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (moderator)

LaRue Allen, Executive Director, Martha Graham Dance Center
Barbara Bryan, Executive Director, Movement Research
Meredith (Max) Hodges, Executive Director, Gallim Dance
Tim Griffin, Executive Director and Chief Curator, The Kitchen
Carlota Santana, Founder/Artistic Director, Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana
Luanne Sorrentino, Co-Owner, Mrs. Rosemary's Dance Studio and St. George Theatre

Storm alters the picture for the Whitney

One Eye on Art, the Other on Water
Whitney Revamps New Museum After Hurricane Sandy
by Robin Pogrebin, The New York Times, June 26, 2013

Young Soon Kim replies to Matthew Westerby's open letter

Reply from Young Soon Kim 
(Artistic Director, WHITE WAVE)

to Matthew Westerby's OPEN LETTER TO THE DANCE COMMUNITY 

(See March 2, 2013 post here.)

Dear Matthew,

Your Open Letter was brought to our attention. Although we emailed, offered to meet, or speak on our studio and cell phones, you declined. There is was only one actual attempt at contacting us in your alleged “numerous attempts,” indicated in the Open Letter and your email dated February 28th. We emailed you November 3rd to coordinate a costume pick-up, which you made and retrieved in December. The white shirts used as props in your piece My Heart is Breaking had been shifted in our preparative measures for Hurricane Sandy, and we were not able to locate them in the midst of the disaster and construction. As soon as we found the black bag containing the shirts once renovations were completed, we immediately informed you. It was disappointing to see your false claims.

As you know from picking up the costumes yourself and eye-witnessing the water-damaged basement, molded walls and destroyed furniture, the storm hit us hard. We were devastated with being forced to cancel eight WAVE RISING SERIES performances (and several workshops/classes), including your final performance the day Sandy made landfall. With our basement six feet under water, we had no choice.

Regarding your performance agreement, a contract signed June 5, 2012, the Wednesday Preview Night is separate from the box office. Per paragraph 7 of the agreement, “Net proceeds of box office revenue (receipts from ticket sales minus payments to tech personnel) for Thursday through Sunday performances will be distributed among participating companies.”

Our total budget for producing the SERIES exceeds $80,000. We were thrilled our outreach efforts led to the SERIES being featured in The New York Times Dance Listing and a video episode of PBS-NYC/Arts. We also made best efforts to collaborate on marketing the production and raise ticket sales together, as the performance agreement also states. We spent a Saturday providing a marketing workshop on how to promote shows, gave your company a spotlight on our website and sent several emails leading up to Preview Night, suggesting numerous tips to lift sales.

As we communicated on various occasions, ticket sales were down. This year’s WAVE RISING SERIES (Programs A-D plus the special show on Sunday, November 4th) generated $3,136.72 in total revenue, a 63% decrease from the six-year average sales total. Program C’s entire ticket sales amounted to $698.72. Per the performance agreement, actual production costs for tech personnel are deducted. The production cost for four tech personnel including a lighting designer, stage manager and backstage managers was $1,325 in Week 2, which was divided between Programs C and D ($662.50 each). Net proceeds for Program C, the split bill with Matthew Westerby Company, Alexandra Elliott, Jessica DiMauro/DiMauro Dance and Flexicurve, totaled $36.22 and Matthew Westerby Company’s share of the box office is $9.05.

Despite our staff’s dedication, we regret that last year’s ticket sales fell short of expectations. We’re sorry that a natural disaster forced the cancellation of shows and created a loss in revenue of approximately $10,000 – both to our organization and the artists whom we serve.

In WHITE WAVE’s role as a resource to the dance community, when a past program in the WAVE RISING SERIES makes less than $100 as determined by the contract, we gave artists a small honorarium from our available operating funds. As a choreographer myself, I wish I had such an honorarium for you today. Sadly, we do not. Ticket sales for Week 2 Preview Night, for instance, were only $172.08. Several hundred dollars went towards preparing food and drinks for you, your dancers, other performers and audience members that evening, and came at my company’s expense.

We have exhausted every avenue for emergency relief – we have rebuilt our walls, we have replaced our floors, we have restored our dressing room and warm-up areas for our artists. However, there is one more avenue of emergency assistance we are pursuing, and we would gladly consider allocating awarded funds to you and fellow 2012 participants. While emergency funding to-date has been designed for structural damage, debris and other direct costs, a loan from the Small Business Administration (SBA) is the only program of its kind available to cover economic losses from the storm – in our case the cancellation of eight WAVE RISING SERIES performances. The application is extremely involved, and we are in the final stages of the process. The status of any disbursements will be made public, and we are expecting an SBA loan determination within 2-3 months. We will be in contact with choreographers affected by the storm at that time.

Our hearts go out to all communities, and our dance community especially, who’ve suffered as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Our commitment to these communities remains, and as a presenter of thousands of international dancemakers, we sincerely strive to create an environment that supports these remarkable, emerging and established artists.

Best Regards, 

Young Soon Kim, Artistic Director (WHITE WAVE)

Post-Sandy: The Kitchen recovers

Drying Out After a Storm, and Moving On
by Allan Kozinn, The New York Times, January 4, 2013

Post-Sandy: Disaster and possibility: New York's art world in recovery

A Climate Change in the Art World?

The art community is digging out, drying off, counting its losses, helping its neighbors--and starting to prepare for the hurricanes of the future.

by Robin Cembalest, ARTNews, November 13, 2012 (print: January 2013)

Post-Sandy: High losses for Chelsea art galleries

Art Insurance Losses from Hurricane Sandy May Reach $500 Million
by Allan Kozinn, The New York Times, December 28, 2012

FLASH MOB ALERT: For Sandy relief -- Today 12:12pm at Washington Square Park Arch

BALLROOM BASIX HOSTS RHUMBA FOR ROCKAWAY RELIEF

FLASH MOB

Tony Dovolani of Dancing With The Stars, Iveta Lukosiute, the 2009 World 10 Dance Champion, Radio City Rockettes and Flash Mob America Join Ballroom Basix to Raise Funds for Rockaway

TODAY, Wednesday, December 12, 2012 at 12:12 p.m.

Washington Square Park Arch, Manhattan
(map/directions)

More than 100 Ballroom and Latin dancers with Harlem schoolchildren from M.S. 45, 57 and 76 come together to raise thousands for Sancy victims.

Ballroom Basix, a not-for-profit, arts-in-education initiative that brings the etiquette and education of partner dancing to deter bullying and enhance peer relationships among schoolchildren, was serving over 120 students in PS 114 in the Rockaways before Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on the area. PS 114 was one of the most severly affected schools ­ so sever that all the children were relocated.

The flash mob will be danced to an original composition, a contemporary English/Spanish version of America, The Beautiful (featuring Grammy-nominated powerhouse Karina Pasian). The song is available on iTunes for $1 ­ all dowload proceeds will go towards helping the students of PS 114. A video of today¹s flash mob will post later today in hopes of viral recognition/downloads/fundraising.

Post-Sandy: Mertz Gilmore Foundation creates emergency fund for dance

NYC Dance Response Fund

In response to Hurricane Sandy and to early field testimony collected by Dance/NYC and its colleagues in service and grantmaking, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation has established a NYC Dance Response Fund to be administered by Dance/NYC, a branch of Dance/USA, the national service organization for professional dance.

NYC Dance Response Fund grants, from $1,000 to $5,000,will be awarded to New York City-based nonprofit organizations and fiscally sponsored projects of The Field, Fractured Atlas, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York Live Arts, and Pentacle focused on the creation or performance of dance. Successful applicants will have incurred identifiable costs due to Hurricane Sandy not otherwise covered by insurance or other sources, including:

    Unpaid artist fees (e.g., performance, rehearsal, or teaching fees cancelled as a result of suspended activity);
    Travel expenses (e.g., unplanned airfare, lodging);
    Lost sales (e.g., returned event tickets, class fees, uncollected rental fees); and
    Property damage (e.g., costumes, sets, equipment,space) not covered by insurance.

Applications will be accepted and processed by Dance/NYC, in partnership with the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, on a first-come first-served basis until all funds are expended. Priority will be given to those who articulate a clear need for reimbursement to rebuild. These are discrete funds and will not impact other Mertz Gilmore Foundation giving priorities.

All applications should be submitted electronically to MGFDanceResponse@dancenyc.org and include: a one-page statement of need; documentation of identifiable costs; and proof of nonprofit or fiscal sponsorship status. Questions may be addressed to Leigh Ross at lross@dancenyc.org

Post-Sandy: Brooklyn indie music benefit for Occupy Sandy

Indie Bands Join Forces for Hurricane Benefit in Brooklyn
by James C. McKinley Jr., The New York Times, November 14, 2012

Post-Sandy: New York's art galleries fight to recover

Amid Recovery, Reports of Sandy’s Damage to Art Institutions Keep Coming
by Allan Kozinn, The New York Times, November 13, 2012

Post-Sandy: Klaus Biesenbach and the Rockaways cleanup

Curating a Relief Effort on the Beach 
by Julia Chaplin, The New York Times, November 14, 2012

Post-Sandy: Asia Society helps Staten Island students and families

Dear Members and Friends of the Asia Society,

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, we hope our greater New York members are safe.  We have been assessing how best to assist those who are still without power, heat or homes.  Thanks to a close and profound connection, we have found the answer.  The College of Staten Island High School for International Studies, or CSI for short, was founded as a partnership between Asia Society's International Studies Schools Network (ISSN) and the New York City Department of Education in 2005.  It’s been a great success, by every measure.  Now the CSI needs our help, in a very different way.

As many of you know, the storm took particularly brutal aim at Staten Island.  While the CSI school did not suffer significant damage, fifteen of its students lost their homes to the storm, and the homes of many more students suffered damage, the loss of utilities and other hardships.  Many families have been displaced from their homes – and it’s not clear when it will be deemed safe to return.

Asia Society’s Brandon Wiley – who has worked with CSI over the years – has been in touch with the school principal and superintendent.  Yesterday the superintendent told Brandon they have received some donations, and she was particularly supportive of our wish to help.  She suggested we work with the school to determine the greatest needs.  So with the help of Asia Society board members, we are setting up a fund for the children and families of the CSI school.  Brandon Wiley will shepherd our efforts to help gauge the most pressing needs in that community.  Asia Society will also contribute to this effort from cost-paring at this week’s awards dinner.

Many Asia Society staffers and trustees have already donated their time and money to help; and some colleagues have suffered the effects of long power outages and gas shortages and the like.  Still, once we arrive at our offices at the Asia Society headquarters – by long walks, or bikes, in car pools or jammed buses - we cannot help but feel the disconnect.  Here we are along an unscathed and never-blacked-out patch of Manhattan; a few miles to the south and east, so many people are suffering.  So we hope our fund will make a difference, for a group of children and their families with whom we already have a great bond.  We ask that members of the Asia Society "family" consider a gift.  All donations will be administered to those who need them most.

A few more words about CSI: In the mold of all ISSN schools, CSI holds to the mission of graduating globally competent and college - and career-ready students.  With approximately 526 students, CSI is one of New York City's top ranked 20 public high schools, and # 1 on Staten Island.  The CSI faculty and staff provide a rigorous and globally-focused learning experience for all who pass through their doors.  Asia Society is a proud partner of CSI, supporting their development and growth since its inception.

Asia Society prides itself on being a global organization, as well as a place of intellectual engagement and an important part of New York’s cultural landscape. We are committed to assisting the local community during this time of need. 

If you wish to contribute, please make checks payable to Asia Society/Hurricane Relief. Checks should be sent to Asia Society/Hurricane Relief at 725 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10021.

As always, we appreciate your support.

With thanks,

Henrietta H. Fore, Co-Chair, Asia Society
Ronnie C. Chan, Co-Chair, Asia Society
Tom Nagorski, Executive Vice President

Post-Sandy: The Kitchen sustains severe damage

Statement from The Kitchen

Dear Kitchen community,

Like thousands of others in New York and New Jersey, The Kitchen was impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Four feet of flooding filled the building’s theater and lobby spaces, severely damaging the floors, walls, doors, box office, lighting, and sound equipment required to house performances. Initial estimates of the loss are between $400,000 and $500,000, if not above, depending on how much material The Kitchen is able to salvage.

In the spirit of artistic resolve, The Kitchen is currently doing everything in their power to keep this season’s program intact, beginning with Richard Maxwell’s Neutral Hero, and Matt Keegan and Eileen Quinlan’s exhibition in the gallery. But at present they are simply unable to say precisely when they will be able to reopen.

The Kitchen’s Benefit Auction, which was slated for Monday, November 12, will be postponed to Monday, November 26, either at The Kitchen or at a to-be-determined alternative location. The proceeds from this annual benefit are essential to The Kitchen’s program and operations in general, but particularly today as they face the rebuild.

While there are countless others in even greater need after Hurricane Sandy, we ask that you keep the benefit in mind for any arts fundraising coverage you may do in the coming days.

The Kitchen’s Executive Director and Chief Curator Tim Griffin says, “As we do our best to reopen, our thoughts are with the people of New York and New Jersey hit so hard by the storm. And we look forward to welcoming artists and audiences back to The Kitchen as quickly as possible.”

We will update you on any schedule changes for the rest of the Fall/Winter 2012 season, including the next installment of The Kitchen L.A.B., Adrienne Truscott's Too Freedom (a dance show), and Camille Henrot and Joakim's Psychopompe (music/performance).

Post-Sandy: We still love New York...and got the t-shirt to prove it!

Artist Lets Public Wear Concern for Storm Victims on Their Sleeves, and Chests
by Liz Robbins, The New York Times, November 5, 2012

Post-Sandy: Dances for the Day of the Dead

Gathering to Dance Amid Tragedy
by Julie Turkewitz, The New York Times, November 5, 2012

Post-Sandy: LMCC's list of emergency resources

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council offers resources for artists and others impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Click here.

Post-Sandy: Emergency resources for artists and others

Grantmakers in the Arts's Web site offers a good list of emergency resources for artists and others affected by Hurricane Sandy. Click this link:

Emergency Readiness, Response & Recovery
HURRICANE SANDY RECOVERY RESOURCES