The New York Arts Recovery Fund fully distributed its available funds of $4,635,000 to 135 organizations and 352 individuals in New York City. The New York Foundation for the Arts created the development of the New York Arts Recovery Fund and served as its fiscal and administrative hub. The Fund combined the strength of key New York service organizations by creating a collaborative, comprehensive effort to address immediate, short-term, and long-term challenges specifically facing New York’s artists and arts organizations most affected by the tragedy of September 11, 2001.

NYFA's partners who served as a steering committee for the Fund include the Alliance of Resident Theaters/New York (ART/NY), New York City Arts Coalition, Nonprofit Finance Fund, Arts & Business Council, Asian Americans for the Arts Alliance, Association of Hispanic Arts, and Harlem Arts Alliance.

The New York Arts Recovery Fund was a four-part initiative which coordinated and built on each organization's individual and collective strengths concerning:

• information resources for those seeking assistance, which included the publication of: An Artist's Guide to Sept 11 Relief Efforts and A Non-Profit's Guide to Sept 11 Relief Efforts
• advocacy on behalf of the arts to ensure that artists and the arts receive an appropriate portion of public and private funds available for relief,
• public programming to aid in the public’s understanding of the position of the arts.

In a time of uncertainty for all of us, a collaborative and unified effort among the arts community and funders was critical to help meet the needs of artists and arts organizations to rebuild and move forward.

NYFA has preserved the documentation from the New York Arts Recovery Fund in hopes that it may be of use to other organizations addressing emergency situations, whether natural or manmade. Among the documents you can download from the box at the right is "Experiences and Lessons Learned in a Time of Crisis," which describes in detail the organization and administration of the Fund. The "Current Archive" is a compliation of our then weekly newsletter which carried comprehensive news of arts recovery efforts.