Helping the Organization Take Maximum Advantage of its Institutional Growth Since Relocating to Astoria in 2013
(Long Island, NY) Earlier this month, the Altman Foundation awarded a capacity-building grant to Queens Council on the Arts (QCA). The Foundation’s important gift will help the Council to achieve key growth objectives over a 15-month period. Targeted goals made possible by the funding include expanded access to opportunities and funds for Queens’ diverse and multi-lingual artist communities, refinement of a distinct visual and institutional identity, and revenue diversification. The grant comes at a significant time: Since its relocation to the Kaufman Arts District in Astoria in 2013, interest in its Queens Art Fund re-grant program has doubled, foot traffic to its multiuse space has more than tripled, and in 2016, the organization will celebrate an historic milestone with its fiftieth anniversary.
Earlier this month, the Altman Foundation awarded a capacity-building grant to Queens Council on the Arts (QCA). Photo Credit: QCA.
This latest investment builds upon a longer history of the Altman Foundation’s support of QCA’s programs, particularly its highly successful High School to Art School Portfolio Development Program (HS2AS), which, in 2014 and 2015 alone, helped more than 100 New York public high school seniors earn $1,640,036 in merit-based scholarships to attend top colleges nationwide. Since 2008, the Altman Foundation has been a major funder of that program, which provides underserved students with free portfolio development, arts skills training, and college application assistance. Recent HS2AS school graduates have gone on to pursue undergraduate arts and liberal arts degrees as top-tier schools like The Cooper Union, Pratt Institute, Vassar College, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Fashion Institute of Technology thanks to the Altman Foundation’s steadfast participation.
As Queens Council on the Arts looks forward to its fiftieth birthday next year, QCA Board of Trustees and staff look anticipate a bright future for the arts and culture in Queens and for the organization. When acknowledging Altman’s latest vote of confidence in its work in the borough, QCA Executive Director Hoong Yee Lee Krakauer stated that the Council “deeply appreciates the Altman Foundation’s generosity and vision in awarding this grant.”
Queens Council on the Arts is the borough-wide arts council of Queens. The mission of Queens Council on the Arts is to foster, and develop the arts in Queens County and to support individual artists and arts organizations in presenting their cultural diversity for the benefit of the community. For more information visit: http://queenscouncilarts.org.
