New York Foundation for the Arts

New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is a 501(c)(3) service organization that empowers artists in all disciplines, as well as cultural workers, to achieve success on their own terms by providing critical support, resources, and opportunities. NYFA accomplishes this mission by offering financial and informational assistance to artists and organizations that directly serve artists, by supporting arts programming in the larger community, and by building collaborative relationships with others who advocate for the arts in New York State and throughout the country.

CORE VALUES

NYFA’s leadership is team based. Staff are encouraged to work with their colleagues both horizontally and vertically in an open, collaborative, and collective culture. Ideas in the organization for any department can come from any level and encouragement is given to such interactions, shared understandings, and transparency.

NYFA values colleagues who are proactive, eager to co-create and brainstorm ideas, and who offer solutions to challenges, with a willingness to navigate complex situations with diplomacy, patience, and good humor.

NYFA recognizes the historic and systemic marginalization of people by race, ethnicity, immigration status, religion, age, geography, ability, sexual orientation, and/or gender and gender-identity. NYFA will continuously work to identify, acknowledge, understand, and dismantle both its own institutional structures of oppression and those of the larger world. NYFA continually strengthens its partnerships locally, nationally, and internationally, believing that only through collective action and collaboration can NYFA revise its practices to uphold the values of equity, diversity, inclusion, and disability access and support.

NYFA was established in 1971 as an independent nonprofit service organization to serve individual artists throughout New York State. Since then, NYFA has extended its comprehensive programs and services throughout the United States and the international community. NYFA’s programs and resources are far-reaching and are rooted in a wealth of support, including funding opportunities, fiscal sponsorship, online information resources, and entrepreneurial-based direct service programs.

Each year, NYFA awards over $5 million in cash grants to individual artists in all disciplines throughout the United States and its territories. NYFA’s Fiscal Sponsorship program, one of the oldest and most reputable in the country, helps national artists and arts organizations raise and manage an average of $5 to $5 million annually. NYFA’s Learning programs, including its Entrepreneur Boot Camp and Immigrant Artist Mentoring Programs, provide thousands of artists with professional development training and support. NYFA’s website, NYFA.org, is used by over 1 million people and features over 20,000 opportunities and resources available to artists in all disciplines.

NYFA is at a pivotal moment in its evolution. It has been increasingly expanding its programs beyond New York City and State to serve artists nationally and, in targeted areas, internationally. It also provides some programming in languages other than English to serve a broader community of artists in need. In addition to providing in-person services, NYFA continually uses technology to expand its reach and the quality of its programming.