The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (NYC Cultural Affairs, or DCLA) is a New York City municipal department that funds and manages museums, theaters, concert halls, and other cultural arts centers in New York City. ¹ NYC Cultural Affairs promotes and subsidizes artwork as a means of addressing social issues such as gun violence, homelessness, discrimination against LGBT people, and racism. ²

NYC Cultural Affairs supports public art displays; funds capital projects for museums, zoos, botanical gardens, and other cultural attractions; and provides free art supplies to nonprofit groups and public schools. ^{1 3 4}

In 2015, NYC Public Affairs  began providing free one-year memberships to 33 cultural centers to illegal immigrants under the age of 14. NYC Cultural Affairs has received financial support from Creative Capital Foundation, an organization that provides artists development services that has been accused of discriminating against white people. ^{4 5}

History

The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs was first created in 1962 as the Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA) under then-Mayor Robert F. Wagner (D). OCA was originally part of the mayor’s office and became part of the newly created Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs Administration in 1967.  In 1976, Cultural Affairs became a separate agency. ⁶

Beginning in 1984, the Department of Cultural Affairs received funds from the National Endowment of the Arts to administer the Greater New York Arts Development Fund. Over its history, the various iterations of NYC Cultural Affairs helped fund the New York Hall of Science, the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center, the Central Park Zoo, and other attractions in New York City. ⁶

Activities

The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs is a New York City municipal department that funds arts and culture programs. NYC Cultural Affairs gives taxpayer funds to nonprofit cultural organizations in New York City’s five boroughs to promote visual, literary, and performing arts; to support science and humanities institutions, including zoos and preservation societies; and to fund creative artists. The department also provides free arts supplies to nonprofit groups and public schools and commissions public art. ^{7 3}

As of May 2025, NYC Cultural Affairs claims to have supported 881 groups and individuals. Projects funded by NYC Cultural Affairs include monuments honoring Billie Holiday, renovations to the Louis Armstrong House Museum in Queens, and an exhibition from artist-in-residence Borinquen Gallo using found materials like plastic bags and caution tape. ³ [noe[ “News for 2025.” NYC Cultural Affairs. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/about/2025-news.page.[/note]

As of May 2025, the NYC Cultural Affairs made its most recent internet-available annual report in 2015 under then-Mayor Bill de Blasio (D). That year, NYC Cultural Affairs reported it had begun a new diversity initiative focused on examining “race, ethnicity, gender, disability, age, and other factors” in order to promote “inclusive institutions.” NYC Cultural Affairs also partnered that year with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs to offer illegal aliens who receive identification cards from New York City free one-year memberships to 33 museums, performing arts centers, zoos, and botanical gardens. That year NYC Cultural Affairs also provided $148 million in funding for capital projects, including constructions, upgrades, and equipment purchases. This included funding for the Whitney Museum of American At, the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, and the Carnegie Hall Resnick Education Wing. ⁴

Starting in 2015, DCLA began commissioning multiple studies analyzing the demographics of the employees of its funded institutions and grantees. The studies also review their “social impact” as well as how they have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of DCLAs’ studies is to identify diversity gaps and the desired social outcomes of its programs. ⁸

In addition to funding museums and other cultural arts institutions, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs makes grants through its Cultural Development Fund (CDF) to charitable nonprofit organizations whose missions include an art or cultural focus and that are based in New York City. ⁹ According to the CDF’s guidelines, grantee programs must contribute to the arts community, preserve historic artifacts or sites, or engage in arts education. It also makes grants to programs that study “practices rooted in humanities” and environmental sciences or promote “ethnic heritage.” ¹⁰

Artist Assistance Programs

In 2015, then-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) announced $30 million in funding over ten years for DCLA to create the Affordable Real Estate for Artists (AREA) program. The program subsidizes 1,500 units of housing and 500 units of workspace for artists to lower their cost of living and fund independent artists who are financially unable to support themselves through an art career at government expense. ¹¹

In November 2022, New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) announced an artist residency program named PAIR through which artists are given a $40,000 stipend, a workspace, and “ongoing assistance” to produce works of art that address social issues, including gun violence, homelessness, and hate crimes. The announcement also listed urban infrastructure as an issue being addressed by the artwork. Partner artists include Gioncarlo Valentine, who in a 2017 blog post asserted that he must “radicalize every space” he enters and confront anything he deems to be racist, even if it is considered aggressive. ^{12 13}

Diversity and Equity Hiring

In 2019, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs conducted a survey of its programs funded by the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation to identify the racial, gender, and sexual identity demographics of its employees. It stated the goal of the survey was to identify if the workforce of funded programs reflected those of the city. The survey found higher paying positions and hiring overall skewed towards employing white individuals while also overrepresenting LGBT individuals. ^{14 15}

In August 2019, then-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) announced that organizations funded by the Department of Cultural Affairs would be required to submit a “diversity plan” to receive funding. Each plan was to include “measurable goals” to achieve diversity, equity, and inclusion to receive funding, which included the increased hiring of ethnic minorities overall and in executive positions as a result of its 2019 survey. ¹⁶

Leadership

The commissioner of NYC Cultural Affairs is Laurie Cumbo. Cumbo was appointed to the position by Mayor Eric Adams (D) in March 2022. Cumbo was previously a Democratic member of the New York City Council, holding the position of majority leader. She helped author legislation creating a gun control office in the mayor’s office. Before her election to city council, Cumbo founded MoCADA, or the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, a museum in Brooklyn. ¹⁷

Financials

As of May 2025, the last published annual report for the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs was in 2015. That year, the department reported expenses of $156,120,588 and an agency operating budget of $5,120,254.⁴

NYC Cultural Affairs has received financial support from Creative Capital Foundation, an organization that provides artists development services that has been accused of intentionally discriminating against white people. ⁵

1. “NYC Cultural Affairs.” NYC Cultural Affairs. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/index.page.
2. About CDF / registration. Accessed February 4, 2024. https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/cultural-funding/about-cdf-registration.page
3. “About Cultural Affairs.” NYC Cultural Affairs. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/about/about-cultural-affairs.page.
4. “Annual Report 2015.” NYC Cultural Affairs. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://www.nyc.gov/assets/dcla/downloads/pdf/annual-reports/annual-report-FY15.pdf.
5. “Support General.” Creative Capital. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://creative-capital.org/support-general/.
6. “History.” NYC Cultural Affairs. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/about/history.page.
7. ^[1] “NYC Cultural Affairs.” NYC Cultural Affairs. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/index.page.
8. Cultural Development Fund (CDF) reforms. Accessed February 4, 2024. https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/cultural-funding/cdf-reforms.page.
9. About CDF / registration. Accessed February 4, 2024. https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/cultural-funding/about-cdf-registration.page.
10. “FISCAL 2024 GUIDELINES.” New York City: New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, 2024. https://www.nyc.gov/assets/dcla/downloads/pdf/cdf_guidelines_annual.pdf
11. Affordable real estate for artists (area). Accessed February 4, 2024. https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/programs/area.page.
12. Kinsella, Eileen. “New York Mayor Eric Adams Has Tapped a Team of Four Artists to Help Him Solve Gun Violence, Homelessness, and Other Problems.” Artnet News, November 4, 2022. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/new-york-city-has-tapped-a-team-of-embedded-artists-to-take-on-gothams-toughest-problems-2204489.
13. Valentine, Gioncarlo. “Is There a Place for the Black Radical in the Nonprofit World?” ZINE, August 21, 2017. https://philaprint.wordpress.com/2017/08/10/is-there-a-place-for-the-black-radical-in-the-nonprofit-world/
14. “Diversity & Equity.” Diversity & Equity – DCLA. Accessed February 4, 2024. https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/programs/diversity.page.
15. “New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Workforce Demographics Pilot Study Results.” New York: New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, July 2019. https://www.nyc.gov/assets/dcla/downloads/pdf/NYC%20DCLA%20Full%202018%20WfD%20Report%207-24-19.pdf
16. Dafoe, Taylor. “New York City Told Its Museums to Diversify or Lose Funding. Here’s How They Plan to Address the Problem.” Artnet News, August 6, 2019. https://news.artnet.com/art-world-archives/new-york-museum-diversity-plans-1615537
17. “Meet the Commissioner.” NYC Cultural Affairs. Accessed May 16, 2025. https://www.nyc.gov/site/dcla/about/commissioner.page.