annual report 2018
Arts For All!
PHOTO: LIZ LIGON
PHOTO: LIZ LIGON
TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 4 6 8 12 16 20 24 26 27 28 33
Letter from the Board Chair Message from the President Where Brooklyn Comes Together Celebrating Diverse Cultures Investing In Artists and Media Makers Connecting to Community Giving Voice to Critical Issues Igniting Imagination Enriching Partnerships Deeply Engaged, Wholly Invested Donors Financials
Artist & activist Jess Thom (aka Touretteshero) 1
2
3
A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT PHOTO: STEVE DE SÈVE
It is such a pleasure to share BRIC’s 2018 Annual Report, which celebrates an incredibly vibrant cultural institution at a transformative moment in its 40year history. It is very meaningful for me to reflect with you on the scope of programming highlighted in these pages. Since my appointment as BRIC’s President this past September, which coincided with the launch of BRIC’s 40th anniversary season, I have had the opportunity to meet with hundreds of BRIC partners, community stakeholders, artists, neighbors, and supporters. Through these conversations, I have learned so much about BRIC’s impact. I have spoken to artists whose careers and artistic practices have been energized by a residency at BRIC. I have connected with community media producers whose voices have been amplified by access to our Brooklyn Free Speech platform. And I have heard from new and long-term Brooklyn residents who embrace BRIC as their home for highquality visual art, performances, and family programs. As you look through the enclosed pages, I hope you agree that BRIC is an arts and media organization unlike any other in the nation. Where else but at BRIC does an award-winning digital and television network like BRIC TV, dedicated to telling compelling Brooklyn stories, intersect with exhibitions, public programs, and performance series showcasing the most exciting emerging Brooklyn talent together with global superstars?
“BRIC is an arts and media organization unlike any other in the nation.” Where else but at BRIC can you check out equipment and resources to create your own video content for free or take a low-cost media education course, alongside public school students who are discovering their own creative voices as they work with BRIC teaching artists and media makers? This month, I will work with BRIC’s talented Board and staff to launch a human-centered strategic planning process. This process will build on BRIC’s 40-year legacy and chart a path for our future, to ensure we continue to be as relevant and responsive as ever to the communities we engage. A key component of this process will be extending BRIC’s reach. My commitment as President is to ensure that, in the future, all New Yorkers know that BRIC is a place where they are welcome and can experience authentic Brooklyn through arts and culture. I look forward to hearing your perspective as part of this process. BRIC’s accomplishments would not have been possible without the leadership and dedication of individuals like you. I hope you will join us in these important conversations. Thank you for all you do to champion BRIC. And thank you for your commitment to our future, which is more important now than ever as we work to reflect and celebrate Brooklyn’s diversity and richness.
Kristina Newman-Scott President 4
PHOTO: TOBY TENENBAUM
5
WHERE BROOKLYN COMES TOGETHER. 300,000
5 million
2,400
people engaged through programming at BRIC House and around Brooklyn
people reached through community TV and digital programs
artists and media makers supported through BRIC’s
180,000
10,000
2,300
digital fans and followers engaged on BRIC social media
6
students and families reached through BRIC’s youth education and family programming
incubator programs
community producers supported to create shows on public access TV
PHOTO: RYAN MUIR
7
CELEBRATING DIVERSE Showcasing outstanding artists from CULTURES Brooklyn and around the world. Zimbabwean Afro-fusion group Mokoomba
BRIC House Sessions PHOTO: RYAN MUIR
BRIC House Sessions showcases a bold and eclectic array of musical genres and world cultures, and features opening acts by local DJs and musicians, with headlining sets from internationally-renowned artists. 8
CELEBRATING DIVERSE CULTURES
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival Celebrating 40 years this past summer, the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival is a free, summerlong performing arts series. Over ten weeks, New Yorkers come back again and again with their friends and family to appreciate or discover a new genre, acclaimed artist, or world culture each night of the Festival.
Sitar master Anoushka Shankar
, May 2018 9
PHOTO: DAVID ANDRAKO
“The BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival… has come to symbolize the international cultural ascendancy of its home borough in New York City.”
CELEBRATING DIVERSE CULTURES
Bordering the Imaginary: Art from Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and their Diasporas
PHOTO: JASON WYCHE
One of five major exhibitions curated per year and presented in the Gallery at BRIC House. 10
“Unforgettable … This excellent, fiercely complicated group show [explores] the web of relationships that exists among the two nations on the island of Hispaniola, their diasporas, colonial Europe, and the imperial US.” , April 2018
11
PHOTO: LIZ LIGON
Bordering the Imaginary Artist Fabiola Jean-Louis
INVESTING IN ARTISTS AND MEDIA MAKERS BRIC Media Arts Fellowship Each year, BRIC hosts the BRIC Media Arts Fellowship, which makes BRIC’s Media Education courses and facilities available at no charge to 12 professional Brooklyn-affiliated visual artists, culminating in a screening of the Fellows’ work. “It was a great opportunity to push my work in a different direction, access a new community, to think differently about the stuff I have been working on, and to test and try different things …” – Marco Scozzaro, Former BRIC Media Arts Fellow
Pictured: Marco Scozzaro, Digital Deli, 2017 12
PHOTO: TOBY TENENBAUM
INVESTING IN ARTISTS AND MEDIA MAKERS
BRIClab The BRIClab commissioning and residency development program allows eight artistic teams each year the opportunity to explore and expand the possibilities of their work in music, dance, theater, and multidisciplinary performance.
“The BRIClab residency was an amazing opportunity to create freely in an inspiring space with some lovely resources.” – Anais Tekerian, The Island of Sighs
13
PHOTO: JENNA SALVAGIN
INVESTING IN ARTISTS AND MEDIA MAKERS
B FREE Awards An Academy Awards-like event celebrating excellence in community media for those in Brooklyn. Each year, BRIC rolls out the red carpet, the fun, and the glitz for the creators of programming on BRIC’s Brooklyn Free Speech TV & Podcast Network. 14
BRIC TV Original Series BRIC TV works with the most exciting filmmakers in Brooklyn to create bold, groundbreaking new work that has been released to critical acclaim on our digital and cable channels. Shows such as Sole Kings, Brooklynification, and The Show About The Show have premiered and screened at festivals such as Tribeca Film Festival, Urbanworld Film Festival, and Sundance Film Festival, among others.
“BRIC continues to show how the Brooklyn brand is gilding its place as a hyperlocal media influencer with muscle. For the second year in a row, BRIC TV participated in the Tribeca Film Festival.” , April 2018
15
PHOTO: ANGELYS OCANA
INVESTING IN ARTISTS AND MEDIA MAKERS
PHOTO: JORDAN RATHKOPF
CONNECTING TO COMMUNITY 16
CONNECTING TO COMMUNITY
Intergenerational Community Arts Council and the WE ARE BROOKLYN Block Party The WE ARE BROOKLYN Community Block Party was an arts-filled celebration led by artist-in-residence Najee Omar, in collaboration with the Intergenerational Community Arts Council (ICAC). A joint program of BRIC and University Settlement, the ICAC brings together a multigenerational team of residents to curate and produce values-driven arts programming by and for community members of the Ingersoll, Whitman, Farragut and Atlantic Terminal NYCHA Houses and the neighboring Fort Greene area. “There’s nothing more Brooklyn, and more Community, than a Block Party! And the art workshops, and the live performances on the main stage, the kid’s activities . . . the Block Party is really just our medium for connecting.” - Najee Omar, Intergenerational Community Arts Council Artist-in-Residence 2018
17
CONNECTING TO COMMUNITY
BRIC Family Programs
PHOTO: TOBY TENENBAUM
BRIC presents a variety of programming that brings Brooklyn families together. With daytime activities featuring art-making, music, gaming, family dance parties, and other participatory activities, our House Parties, Family Workshops, and The Knights Family Shows are educational, fun, and all about creativity. 18
CONNECTING TO COMMUNITY
Community Dance Class with Ronald K. Brown/ EVIDENCE: A Dance Company
19
PHOTO: DAVID ANDRAKO
Close to 500 individuals of all ages and skill levels attended a series of Community Dance Classes taught by Ronald K. Brown, famed founder and Artistic Director of EVIDENCE, A Dance Company. Blending traditional African dance with contemporary choreography and spoken word, and accessible for all ages and skill levels, these Community Classes were part of EVIDENCE’s residency program at BRIC House.
#BHeard Town Halls #BHeard Town Halls covered a wide range of crucial issues, allowing the public to have a voice on timely topics such as being Muslim in New York, mental health, and the #MeToo movement. “We’re talking about behavioral changes not just in the workplace, but in life and on the street.” – Carmelyn P. Malalis, at the #BHeard Town Hall: #MeToo Is Just the Beginning, March 2018
PHOTO: ANGELYS OCANA
GIVING VOICE TO CRITICAL ISSUES 20
GIVING VOICE TO CRITICAL ISSUES
Project Re-Direct
PHOTO: JESSICA MASON
In partnership with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, BRIC welcomed young people to a Media Intensive program where they learned the fundamentals of video production, podcasting, and video editing to create short films and podcasts that reflected on their life experiences, allowing the students to develop new skills and explore personal storytelling through media. 21
22
23
IGNITING IMAGINATION BRIC’s School-Based Educational Program For the past three decades, BRIC has been a pioneer in providing meaningful art and media education to public school students throughout Brooklyn. Our staff and teaching artists worked with more than 30 schools and 4,000 students in fiscal year 2018, collaborating closely with school administration and classroom teachers to effectively integrate art and media into the core curriculum.
PHOTO: RYAN MUIR
24
IGNITING IMAGINATION
The 30th Annual Contemporary Art Student Exhibition
25
PHOTO: JASON WYCHE
BRIC’s 2018 Student Exhibition, INTERSECTION: Individual x Community, showcased a selection of work from schools located in 16 Brooklyn neighborhoods. Featuring a wide variety of media, from sculpture and photography, to film and podcasts, to mosaic and mural work, the exhibition celebrated how young people’s individual expressions intersect with community identity.
ENRICHING PARTNERSHIPS
WE GET BY WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS Youth Education Partner Schools and Organizations Academy for College Preparation and Career Exploration Academy of Arts & Letters Boys And Girls High School Brookdale Senior Citizen Center Brooklyn Academy High School Brooklyn High School of the Arts Brownsville Academy High School CAMBA Digital Arts and Cinema Technology High School East Flatbush Community Research School Flagstone Family Center Fort Greene Preparatory Academy Grand St. Settlement I.S. 281 Joseph B. Cavallaro I.S. 383 Philippa Schuyler Juan Morel Campos Secondary School M.S. 240 Andries Hudde School M.S. 246 Walt Whitman M.S. 340 North Star Academy M.S. 352 Ebbets Field Middle School M.S. 582 - Magnet School for Multi-Media Technology and Urban Planning NIA Community Services Network P.S. 188 Michael E. Berdy P.S. 202 Ernest S Jenkyns P.S. 243 The Weeksville School P.S. 279 Herman Schreiber P.S. 284 Lew Wallace P.S. 308 Clara Cardwell P.S. 310 The School For Future Leaders P.S. 34 Oliver H. Perry School P.S. 38 The Pacific School P.S. 261 Philip Livingston 26
P.S. 59 William Floyd P.S. 705 Brooklyn Arts and Science Elementary School P.S. 84 Jose De Diego School P.S./I.S. 104 The Fort Hamilton School P.S/M.S. 306 Ethan Allen Secondary School of Journalism Spring Creek Community School University Settlement Society of New York, Inc Van Siclen Community Middle School Media Share Grantees Asase Yaa Cultural Arts Foundation BEAM Center Boys Hope Girls Hope NY Brooklyn Legal Services (Brooklyn A) Brooklyn Raga Massive Brooklyn Youth Music Project Domestic Workers United Fulton Area Business Alliance (FAB) Fulton Art Fair Good Shepherd Services Graham Windham Green City Force North Brooklyn Coalition Against Family Violence NPower Rebuilding Together NYC Sanctuary for Families That Suits You The Family Center The Financial Clinic University Settlement Urban Bush Women
Program Partnerships 350.org Afro-Latino Festival Armenian General Benevolent Union (ABGU) Atlantic Ave. Local Development Corp. Black Alliance for Just Immigration Black Gotham Experience Brooklyn Arts & Culture Festival Brooklyn Arts Exchange Brooklyn Community Foundation Brooklyn Community Services Brooklyn District Attorney's Office Brooklyn High School of the Arts Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival Brooklyn Makers Brooklyn Music School Brooklyn Podcast Festival Brooklyn Pride Brooklyn Public Library Brooklyn Voters Alliance CAMBA Carnegie Hall Center for Supportive Schools CHIPS (Soup Kitchen & Shelter) Community Board 2 CUNY Clear Downtown Brooklyn Arts Alliance Downtown Brooklyn Partnership Drug Policy Alliance Fifth Avenue Committee Fort Greene Community Heroes Get Organized BK GMAAC Gowanus Arts Gowanus Neighborhood Coalition for Justice Greenlight Bookstore Griot Circle Haiti Cultural Exchange
Heels on Wheels IFP (Independent Feature Project) IMPACCT Brooklyn Ingersoll Cornerstone Community Center Kings Theatre Kow Teff Look + Listen Festival Make the Road Man-Up Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) Mil's Trills - Interactive Music for Children of All ages Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership (MARP) NAB (National Assoc. of Broadcasters) Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts New York New York Immigration Coalition NY International Children's Film Festival Operation Hood Party Like Brooklyn, Baby! Prototype Festival Raben_Impact Recess/Assembly Reel Sisters Rooftop Films Shared Studios Sol Project Soul Circus Stories Bookshop + Storytelling Lab The Bishop Gallery The Intercept The Marshall Project
The Secret Life of Muslims Trellis Under the Radar / The Public Theater University Settlement’s The Performance Project Urbanworld Film Festival ViBe Theater Experience Weeksville Heritage Center West Indian American Day Carnival Association WomanKind Yokey Pokey Virtual Reality YWCA Brooklyn
DEEPLY ENGAGED, WHOLLY INVESTED
Your generosity enables BRIC to present a rich variety of artistic offerings and continue the expansion of community engagement through robust, free and low-cost programming spanning the arts, education, and media. BRIC Board of Directors Hilary Ackermann, Chair Cyrus Beagley, Vice Chair Mark S. Cheffo, Vice Chair Lynn Nottage, Vice Chair Michael Liburd, Treasurer Peter Aschkenasy, Secretary Virginia Davis Blair Deborah Brown Leslie Cohen Lenore Cooney Ashley C. Cotton Josh Epstein Lizanne Fontaine Louis V. Greco, Jr. Adam Greenberg Julia Kahr Jessie McClintock Kelly Catie Marshall Joseph Nacmias Christina Norman Stephen Plumlee Gaston Silva Winston Song Douglas C. Steiner Kerry Le Blanc Strong Karen Synesael Valerie D. White Antonia Yuille Williams Jen Wong Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Ex Officio
Executive Leadership Kristina Newman-Scott, President Betsy Smulyan, Executive Vice President Emily Harney, Deputy Director, Programming Initiatives Sharon Polli, Vice President, Advancement Elaine Bowen, Director of Development Lexi Robertson, Chief Financial Officer Laurel Sheridan, Interim Director of Marketing (Programs) Elizabeth Ferrer, Vice President, Contemporary Art Aziz Isham, Executive Producer, BRIC TV Anthony Riddle, Vice President, Community Media Jack Walsh, Vice President, Performing Arts Rachel Chanoff, Senior Artistic Advisor
The Fund for BRIC, Inc. Board of Directors Hilary Ackermann, Chair Daniel Wiener, Secretary/Treasurer Avinash Kaza EB Kelly Kristina Newman-Scott, President The Fund for BRIC Community Media, Inc. Board of Directors Hilary Ackermann, Chair Peter Darrow, Secretary/Treasurer Zachary Block Avinash Kaza Kristina Newman-Scott, President Chair’s Council Leslie Alexander Karen Auster Marco Caffuzzi Ligia Cravo Samara Daly Nick Fribourg Stephanie Ingrassia Susan Jurevics David Lindsay-Abaire Alexandra MacCallum Ross Martin Beth Miller Marty Rubin, In memoriam Peter Shapiro Rebecca Shapiro Dick Yancey
Artists Advisory Council Laura Anderson Barbata Jackie Battenfield Ronald K. Brown Mario Correa Yvonne Estrada Elana Herzog Julian Jackson Eve Andree Laramee Miguel Luciano Jordana Martin Wendy Richmond Mary Schwab DJ Spinna Yara Travieso
Contemporary Art Advisory Council Lorrie Bonaventura Margaret Boyer Sally Brody Priscilla Caldwell Marie DeRosa Gail Erickson Laura Karetzky Leslie Kerby Tod Lippy Leslie Marshall Wendy Olsoff Susan Restler Leslie Tonkonow
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Friends Council Nell Muldoon, Chair Nathaniel Allman Maura Conley Patty Lenartz Marc Littlejohn Virginia McEnerney Tim Sanford Katie Schwab Daniel Schwartz Irene Sherman Tara Silberberg Hope Tannenbaum Sam Verrill
Emerging Leaders Council Brad Bateman Lindsay Bowen Kate Chapman Diana Elkind Julie Freeman Vik Manchanda Rebecca Silber Catrin Solis Performing Arts Advisory Council Bill Bragin Mike Donovan Jeff Pachman Brice Rosenbloom Tim Sanford Lucy Sexton 27
28
29
30
31
32
2017 / 2018 FINANCIALS ASSETS
UNRESTRICTED
TEMPORARILY RESTRICTED
$2,834,769 $1,071,941 $2,089,288 $634,891 $10,943,530
$1,014,927 – $9,553,351 – ($10,943,530)
$3,849,696 $1,071,941 $11,642,639 $634,891
$17,574,419
($375,252)
$17,199,167
INCOME Contributions Government Grants Program Service Revenue Interest and Dividends Net Assets Released from Restrictions TOTAL OPERATING REVENUES & SUPPORT EXPENSES Program Expenses Community Media Contemporary Art Performing Arts Interdisciplinary Art Education
TOTAL
Cash & Cash Equivalents Investments Government and Other Receivables Contributions Receivable Prepaid Expenses and Other Assets Net Fixed Assets TOTAL ASSETS
$3,211,624 $18,695,285 $3,387,647 $642,342 $1,534,063 $13,190,456 $40,661,417
LIABILITIES $7,117,726 $586,312 $3,617,520 $643,666 $791,911
Support Services Management and General Fundraising TOTAL OPERATING EXPENSES CHANGE IN NET ASSETS FROM OPERATIONS Non-operating Revenue (Expense) Other Grants Other Income Net Gain on Investments Other Expense
$7,117,726 $586,312 $3,617,520 $643,666 $791,911
$2,615,992 $616,699
$2,615,992 $616,699
$15,989,826
$15,989,826
$1,584,593
($375,252)
$200,000 $15,000 $750,946 ($15,000)
$1,209,341 $200,000 $15,000 $750,946 ($15,000)
CHANGE IN NET ASSETS
$2,535,539
($375,252)
$2,160,287
NET ASSETS, BEGINNING OF YEAR
$22,952,051
$12,563,083
$35,515,134
$25,487,590
$12,187,831
$37,675,421
NET ASSETS, END OF YEAR
Accounts Payable and Accrued Expenses Deferred Revenue Accrued Vacation Total Liabilities
$863,722 $1,778,267 $344,007 $2,985,996
NET ASSETS Unrestricted Operating Board Designated Fund Total Unrestricted Temporarily Restricted Total Net Assets TOTAL LIABILITIES & NET ASSETS
$23,127,949 $2,377,641 $25,487,590 $12,187,831 $37,675,421 $40,661,417
OPERATING INCOME $17,199,167
OPERATING EXPENSES² $15,989,826
• 68% PROGRAM SERVICE REVENUE • 22% PRIVATE CONTRIBUTIONS (INDIVIDUAL /
• 80% PROGRAM EXPENSES • 16% MANAGEMENT & GENERAL EXPENSES • 4% FUNDRAISING & DEVELOPMENT EXPENSES
1
BUSINESS / FOUNDATION)
• 6% GOVERNMENT GRANTS • 4% INTEREST & DIVIDENDS 1
Includes cable service revenue and earned revenue
2
Includes depreciation expense
FRONT COVER PHOTO: ANGELYS OCANA | BACK COVER PHOTO: LIZ MANEY
@BRICbrooklyn #BRICbrooklyn BRICartsmedia.org
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!