A $15 Million Performing Arts Center Dedicated to Immigrants Is Coming to New York City

New York is planning to build a new performing arts and research
facility for American immigrants—and it’s looking for a non-profit
organization to oversee it.

Last week, the city announced that it has committed $15 million
to fund the design and construction of the Immigrant Research and
Performing Arts Center in Inwood, the northernmost neighborhood in
Manhattan. The Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York City
Economic Development Corporation released an initial call for
interest in the project, beginning the search for a non-profit to
step in and manage the development and operation of the
facility.

The organization that wins the bid will be responsible for
securing additional funding for the center, which is expected to
include a staged space for performances and other programming, as
well as rehearsal space, dressing rooms, classrooms, and
administrative offices.

“The Immigrant Research and Performing Arts Center will deliver
state-of-the-art cultural space in Northern Manhattan, providing a
permanent home to honor the vibrancy and history of immigrant
contributions to our cultural fabric,” James Patchett, the
president and CEO of the city’s economic development corporation,
said in a statement.

“Inwood is home to a vibrant cultural community, and we’re
thrilled to take this step toward providing this community with a
new anchor space that will attract and engage visitors from across
the city and beyond for years to come,” added cultural affairs
commissioner Tom Finkelpearl.

The proposed Immigrant Research and Performing Arts Center is a
major component of the Inwood NYC Action Plan, a strategy to bring
in more than $200 million in public investments to the area and
maintain its status as an affordable neighborhood for immigrant
families. The plan was approved by the City Council last
August.

Inwooders repeatedly expressed a need for such a facility
through a large community outreach campaign conducted by the city
over the course of three years. “Community members that
participated in workshops and events identified a lack of
affordable space as the most pressing need for arts and culture in
northern Manhattan,” a representative from the cultural affairs
department told artnet News.

A timeline for the facility, including dates for breaking ground
and opening, will be “clearer when the future operator of the
facility is on board.” the representative said.

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