Audience Development Initiative
Over the past five years, the eyes of the world have turned to Staten Island in a way never before experienced. The attention is not just because of The Wheel, Empire Outlets, or Lighthouse Point. The NYC Department of City Planning projects that the borough’s population figures will grow by 4% by 2020 through an influx of new residents seeking space, greenery in “The Borough of Parks” and less expensive rental and sales prices for real estate. Ethnic demographics are changing, too. The island’s population now include new immigrants from Sri Lanka, Eastern Europe, Africa and Mexico – shifting the long-held statistic that 75% of the island is Caucasian.
This growth presents an exciting new chapter for Staten Island but also renders challenges and highlights long-standing issues. For the cultural community, this includes audience development and diversity: a challenge has been not just to reach a different ethnic demographic but also to capture residents who are not arts inclined or engaged with local cultural resources.
Staten Island Arts is addressing these challenges through Expanding Audiences and Cultural Participation, a new initiative to provide professional development and regrant funding to support local cultural organizations (from emerging to established) to better market their work, build strong relationships with both existing constituents and unfamiliar communities, and welcome new audiences. The initiative is being made possible through the generosity of New York Community Trust, The Staten Island Foundation, the Altman Foundation, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and Time Warner.
Staten Island Arts has been thrilled that this initiative is providing Richmond County artists and administrators with the opportunity to work with Donna Walker-Kuhne and the staff of Walker International Communications Group. Ms. Walker-Kuhne has been acknowledged by the Arts and Business Council as the foremost expert on audience diversification in the United States. She currently consults as Senior Advisor, Community Engagement at New Jersey Performing Arts Center and was formerly Director of Marketing and Audience Development for The Public Theater and Director of Marketing for Dance Theatre of Harlem.
In the first phase of the program, 34 Staten Island-based cultural organizations experienced training in the areas of audience development (including community engagement, social media, marketing, program development) and professional development (grant writing, relationship management) that expanded their thinking around audience development to achieve a broad reach on the island and beyond. These workshops—which took place between July 2017 and February 2018–were led by Donna Walker-Kuhne, Toni Hendrix, and Richard Pelzer from Walker International Communications Group along with Grants Management Consultant Morgan Lindsey Tachco and special guests.
The centerpiece of the “Expanding Audiences and Cultural Participation” is a regrant program through which Staten Island-based organizations were eligible to receive funding for the creation of audience development strategies to be implemented throughout 2018. $301,800 in regrant funding was awarded to 10 local Staten Island organizations. These organizations are: Alice Austen House; Art Lab, Inc; Historic Richmond Town; MakerPark Radio; Staten Island Philharmonic; Staten Island Shakespearean Theatre; Staten Island Institute of the Arts and Sciences; Staten Island Makerspace; Staten Island Children Museum; and Universal Temple of the Arts. The teams at Staten Island Arts and Walker International Communications Group look forward to working with the organizations creating initiatives for new audience development strategies as well as providing ongoing support for the local cultural community.
2018 Expanding Audiences and Cultural Participation Grantees +
10 awards, total awarded: $301,800
Alice Austen House – Intergenerational Storytelling through Photography
Series of intergenerational photographic storytelling LGBTQIA workshops.
Art Lab, Inc – Colors of The Carnival: Traditions and Culture of Mazatlan
Carnival themed gallery exhibit and series of art workshops serving as a pilot towards long term strategic outreach with Spanish speaking community living in Staten Island.
Maker Park Radio – OPEN AIRWAVES! A Music Celebration, Open House & Concert Series
A marketing initiative that reaches African American and Latino American audiences with Internal and External Programming opportunities.
Staten Island Philharmonic – United in Harmony
Staten Island Philharmonic teaching artists will prepare developmentally disabled adults from On Your Mark to sing as a chorus in 3 SI Philharmonic concerts.
Staten Island Shakespearean Theatre – The Port Richmond Initiative: Developing Audience and Diversity
Creating an after school theater education program to connect with disadvantaged children of color and diverse cultural backgrounds in Port Richmond, and develop workshops in collaboration with the neighborhood’s Mexican/Latinx community.
Staten Island Children’s Museum – OPEN MUSEUM
Staff from all levels of the institution will participate in a series of professional development trainings to improve cultural competencies to work with a wide and diverse audience.
Staten Island Historical Society / Historic Richmond Town – Building Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Historic Richmond Town
Diversity, equity and inclusion training for board, staff, and key stakeholders, with a focus on preparing for outreach to people of the African diaspora on Staten Island.
Staten Island Museum – Black Lunch Table at Staten Island Museum
Black Lunch Table at the Staten Island Museum is an artist-led, participant-driven, community building initiative, culminating in a series of 4 free public programs that serves to foster critical dialogue and amplify the voices of people of color.
Staten Island MakerSpace – SI MakerSpace Parent Creative Alliance
Hire a Community Outreach Manager to manage a program called SI Makerspace Parent Creative Alliance to engage local parents in our facility and programs.
Universal Temple of the Arts – Expanding Arts Access for Residents in Staten Island Public Housing Developments
Universal Temple of the Arts will develop a strategic marketing and community outreach campaign in an effort to engage under-served low-income community residents in arts services offered by our organization and other like-minded cultural institutions.
