"Strengthening NYC’s Cultural and Creative Sector:
Tackling the Affordability Crisis and Other Threats to the City’s Creative Edge"
A Center for an Urban Future Policy Symposium

Wednesday, January 21, 2026 
8:45 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. 
150W17TH (formerly The Rubin Museum)
150 West 17th Street

To attend in-person, RSVP via this link.
To watch the livestream, RSVP via this link. 

The creative sector—from performing and visual arts to design and film—is more critical than ever to New York City's economy. But it is facing serious new threats, in large part due to an affordability crisis that is hitting artists and creative workers especially hard. The number of dancers in NYC has declined by 19% since the pandemic, while fashion designers are down by 26%, actors by 8%, and musicians by 3%. At the same time, nearly 50 theaters, music clubs, museums, and galleries have shuttered since 2020, and many nonprofit arts organizations are more financially vulnerable than ever as they confront escalating costs, declining revenue from ticket sales, and uncertainty over government grants.    

This in-person policy forum will explore what city leaders—including the incoming mayor—should do to strengthen New York’s cultural and creative sector amid an affordability crisis and a range of other accelerating challenges. Building on CUF’s recently published Creative New York report, it will advance concrete ideas for addressing the most pressing challenges facing working artists and creatives, nonprofit cultural organizations, and creative businesses. 

Confirmed speakers include (with more to be announced):​

• Maria Torres-Springer, President, The Charles H. Revson Foundation
• Karesia Batan, Founding Executive Director, Queensboro Dance Festival
• Rafael Espinal, Executive Director, Freelancers Union
• Sade Lythcott, CEO, National Black Theatre

Details
Wednesday, January 21, 2025
8:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. (doors open at 8; program begins at 8:45)
@150W17TH (formerly The Rubin Museum)
150 West 17th Street

To attend in-person, please RSVP via this link. 
To watch the livestream, please RSVP via this link. 

We are committed to providing access and reasonable accommodations in our programs. For questions or requests regarding access and accommodation, please contact Sophia Tumolo at [email protected] at least 72 hours in advance of the program.

This event was made possible thanks to generous support from Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Howard Gilman Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Mellon Foundation. We are also grateful for general support from The Clark Foundation and the Altman Foundation, support from Fisher Brothers Foundation for CUF's Middle Class Jobs Project, and ongoing support from a number of other philanthropic funders.