The Department of Cultural Affairs is partnering with the Alliance for the Arts in an exciting new initiative entitled the Citywide Cultural Database Project. Once realized, the Citywide Cultural Database will be an unprecedented resource for DCA, the cultural community, New York City public schools, parents, teachers, and members of the general public. The Citywide Cultural Database represents a great advance in compiling and making available information about the city's not-for-profit cultural organizations—no other initiative on this subject matches this project in scope.

To maximize the usefulness of the Citywide Cultural Database, DCA and the Alliance need the assistance of the cultural community. Here's what the project is all about, and how cultural organizations can help.

The Citywide Cultural Database will be an electronic database offering comprehensive online Web-based information to the public via a user-friendly format detailing what's happening in the not-for-profit cultural world. The database will have three parts, each with a different Web site. Here are the three components:

1. NYC KidsArts

This Web site will describe educational programs offered by the cultural community that are geared towards children, families, and school groups. Currently active in a text format with limited search capabilities at www.nyckidsarts.org, NYC KidsArts will eventually have much more extensive search features. Parents will be able to browse the site to find activities of particular interest to their families; eventually, young people themselves will use this site for their own searches. Teachers will use NYC KidsArts to learn about educational programs in the arts that are related to their subject area and to relevant school curricula and state and city learning standards. Users will be able to customize the site to suit their special interests and will also have access to special mapping features.

The information to be contained in NYC KidsArts will be developed in partnership with the Board of Education, the Center for Arts Education, the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable, and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), as well as others involved in arts education. NYC KidsArts will build on the pioneering efforts of the Alliance in publishing the Kids Culture Catalog, the quarterly NYCkidsARTS, and the Arts and Cultural Education Services Guide issued by the Board of Education, all of which contain a wealth of information in print form on cultural programs in New York City available to school children and families. Additional content on NYC KidsArts may include special features on particular programs; news bulletins in the area of arts education, including updates on the activities of the Center and Project Arts; bulletin boards for parents, teachers, and young people to exchange information and ideas; and links to the Web sites of those organizations featured in NYC KidsArts.

In addition to home access for parents and teachers, NYC KidsArts is expected to be a featured site at libraries throughout the city—especially at the terminals within their children's reading areas—and will also be available to teachers and school administrators at terminals located in their schools and at UFT Teacher Centers.

2. NYC Arts

This Web site will impart information about the city's not-for-profit cultural organizations and what they offer the public both in terms of regular programming and special programs—e.g., temporary exhibits, performance series, tours, lectures, and the like—for the purpose of encouraging people to attend these events. The NYC Arts site will be used both by New York City residents and visitors to New York City, domestic and foreign, when planning outings in or trips to New York. Other users may include tour operators and other tourism professionals, including, in particular, the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

As with NYC KidsArts, this site will build on print media already published by the Alliance—i.e., The New York City Culture Catalog and quarterly cultural calendars—and will be linked to the Web sites of the cultural organizations profiled in the site, thus providing what is likely to be the most comprehensive listing available of Web sites pertaining to the city's cultural community. Also, as with the KidsArts site, users will be able to create their own individualized version of NYC Arts and print maps and personal itineraries.

3. DCA's Home Page

As part of the city's overall E-government initiative, DCA plans to develop the capability of receiving applications and reports online from its constituents at the DCA Web site (currently www.nyc.gov/html /dcla/home.html), thereby enabling us to gather quantitative and statistical information about the cultural community. By means of the Citywide Cultural Database, the Alliance will be given limited access to this information in the form of collective data so as to make possible regular reports by the Alliance on the economic impact of the cultural community. These reports will be published by the Alliance at its Web site, www.allianceforarts.org.

Previously, when forced to laboriously collect data by hand, the Alliance was able to issue studies, such as its 1997 economic impact study, only on an occasional basis. By computerizing the collection of data, the Cultural Database will enable the Alliance to issue these reports much more frequently. Additionally, because the information can be formatted in a number of ways, DCA and the Alliance will have the ability to do much more targeted research, and DCA will have more effective and timely data with which to advocate for both public and private funding for our constituency.

To enable the Citywide Cultural Database to work most effectively, the system will authorize cultural organizations with Internet access to enter and update their own information directly online. As to the KidsArts and NYC Arts sites, each organization will enter its information in a pre-determined format; these entries will then be edited by the Alliance for consistency of tone, and, thereafter, updated periodically by the organization.

As to the collection of statistical data, this information will be obtained through DCA's regular application and reporting processes in a Web-based format to be developed separately by DCA. By making possible the submission of this information online, DCA hopes to achieve major efficiencies both for itself and for our constituency. As stated above, the data collected will then be aggregated and passed along to the Alliance for research and reporting purposes. However, as much of this information is confidential, appropriate safeguards will be developed so that only DCA has access to the information relevant to a particular organization.

We recognize that some cultural organizations, particularly smaller ones, may not yet have the capacity to file information with DCA online. Thus, a secondary goal of this project is to highlight the need for additional resources to enable the cultural community to further develop its Internet capability and create a higher profile on the Web.

The Citywide Cultural Database has a broad base of public and private support, with Mayor Giuliani and the City Council providing almost $1.2 million in city capital funds. Meanwhile, the private sector has contributed additional funds in excess of $800,000.

As to its implementation, a preliminary data model is now being developed by the Alliance with Dr. Jerry Scally, one of the country's leading database designers (because of his belief in the importance of this project, Dr. Scally is donating his services on a pro bono basis). DCA expects to issue a request for proposals in the early part of calendar year 2001 for the final design and installation of the database with the hope of having NYC KidsArts and NYC Arts up and running within a year's time.

DCA and the Alliance are currently in the process of asking representatives from the cultural community to work with the Alliance and Dr. Scally in developing the preliminary data model for the Citywide Cultural Database over the next three months. Additionally, we will be forming focus groups from among the various constituencies to be served by this project—arts groups, parents, teaching artists, teachers, students, and members of the general public—to gain their input as to the kind of information which should be collected and disseminated and other services which might be offered, such as an online newsletter, tips for parents and teachers, and links to other helpful resources, e.g., a guide to restaurants and other nearby amenities.

We are eager for comments from the field regarding content as well as logistical issues that should be taken into account in implementing the project, and, in general, any ideas that would make the Citywide Cultural Database an even more useful resource for the cultural community. Those interested in having input should contact any of the following individuals: Susan Rothschild ([212] 643-6197) and Maureen Nash ([212] 643-7718) at DCA; and Randy Bourscheidt, Anne Coates, and Sara Loughlin (all at [212] 947-6340) at the Alliance.

1. Parents will have a readily available source of information concerning cultural events and organizations to attend in New York City with their families, thereby increasing parental awareness of what arts and culture can contribute to the education of their children.

2. Teachers will have easy access to the full range of school programs and other resources offered by the cultural community, and can use these resources in developing curricula and lesson plans and scheduling school trips, thus fostering the integration of arts and culture into the core curriculum.

3. New York City residents and visitors to New York can plan outings in and trips to New York around their special interests, and can find out what's happening in venues outside of the cultural mainstream, including boroughs other than Manhattan, thereby increasing the visibility of and attendance at lesser known cultural organizations.

4. Tour operators can plan customized itineraries for their clients and cultural organizations can collaborate with other tourist attractions to offer special package deals, thereby increasing tourism in New York City.

5. Both DCA and the Alliance can better demonstrate the substantial contribution made by arts and culture to the city's economy, thereby stimulating increased support for the cultural community from both the public and the private sector.

6. Groups funded by or interested in receiving funding from DCA will be able to file applications with and submit final reports to DCA online, resulting in administrative efficiencies both at DCA and within the cultural community.

7. Individual members of the cultural community—such as teaching artists and program directors—will have ready access to information regarding what other organizations are doing, thereby fostering opportunities to learn from and partner with others in the field.

8. DCA will have an instant means of communicating with the cultural community, thereby enabling both DCA and its constituencies to become better informed about issues of common concern.

To close on a more philosophical note, the Citywide Cultural Database offers the cultural community a unique opportunity to present itself in a holistic way. As the Alliance study issued in 1997 indicates, in 1995, arts and culture had an economic impact on New York City of $11.1 billion; of that figure, $3.2 billion was generated by the not-for-profit sector. Other industries of like size have long gathered statistics relating to their economic impact. Our field needs to do the same, and to think of how much more we can accomplish by working together to present the total picture outlining the many ways arts and culture contribute to New York City—to its economy, to the education of our children, and, more intangibly, to the creative and intellectual energy which is so uniquely New York City.

Susan B. Rothschild is the Assistant Commissioner for Cultural Institutions at the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs

Funding Opportunity

This winter, the Community Arts Development Program (CADP) is issuing the 2001-2002 Guidelines and Applications/RFP to regrant $250,000 to eligible community arts organizations. The RFP is conducted biannually, and funding for CADP continues to be provided by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG).

Qualified arts organizations, located within the boundaries of New York City, may apply to obtain professional arts equipment and/or to improve their facilities. Organizations with experience in executing public art may apply to produce works of art to enhance public facilities. Not every not-for-profit organization is eligible to apply due to federal regulations restricting the expenditure of CDBG funds to low and moderate income areas. Exceptions may be made for applicants outside of these areas in need of assistance for projects of code compliance, as well as access compliance as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Projects of historic preservation may also be considered. Organizations may be eligible, as well, if they primarily serve limited clientele, such as the elderly, people with disabilities, homeless persons, abused children, battered spouses, and illiterate persons.

CADP grants for small capital projects usually do not exceed $14,500. This assistance is targeted at spaces that will be rendered functional when the CADP project is completed, and holds true for projects that can be achieved with CADP funding alone or when the CADP grant becomes part of the capital funding raised for a larger project. Many CADP grantees have successfully leveraged other capital grants for their renovation projects. CADP funding can be matched with New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) Capital Project grants, and several excellent joint projects have been completed, with more underway. Applicants must be aware that regardless of the prospect of matching funding NYSCA's Capital Project Program and CADP have separate and distinct guidelines with qualifications that must be fulfilled independently.

If your organization is listed with Cultural Affairs, and has been receiving announcements and/or applications for grants, you will be receiving an announcement concerning CADP's RFP. If such communications are not being received, and you would like to be placed on the mailing list, please send a letter or postcard to:

Program Services
Department of Cultural Affairs
330 West 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036
ATT: Mailing List

For information concerning the Capital Project Program of the New York State Council on the Arts, please call Nancy Cohn at (212) 387-7018. NYSCA's application deadline is March 1, 2001. Only those organizations funded by NYSCA's other programs for the last three consecutive years are eligible to apply to its Capital Project Program. 

The information contained in the above article is current as of its January 2001 publication date. Please be advised that this information may be out of date.