New York Live Arts, Inc.

In order to address our goals mentioned in the previous section above, we’re currently working through a strategic plan of the following goals:

1) In the coming 3-5 years, our Board has approved a budget with a modest post-depreciation deficit for FY25, where we intend to use cash reserves during this period as we develop new revenue streams both from our current and new institutional funders and through our current and new prospective individual donors.

2) In terms of artist compensation, as we examine our values as they relate to our mission of providing much-needed resources to artists at every stage of their career, New York Live Arts (Live Arts) has since 2022 developed the Fund for Equity (FFE). The FFE provides a guaranteed annual wage to every BTJ/AZ performer not tied to the rehearsal or touring schedule. Practically, this means performers receive stable compensation whether the Company has work or not. This is a shift from the usual dance company structure in the field, which typically only compensates performers for weeks in which tours or rehearsals are scheduled, forcing artists to rely on other work or unemployment benefits in the interim.

In FY24, we raised the $3,000 stipend we traditionally offered to our Fresh Tracks artists to $5,000, which aligns with our overall objective of increasing artist wages at all levels. Going forward for FY25 and beyond we are committed to keeping this stipend fee to $5,000, while also continuing to offer a package of benefits, including a produced premiere of their new work, presenter cultivation, marketing workshops, fundraising, business coaching, and branding. Our Randjelović/Stryker Resident Commissioned Artists receive a $50k salary, health benefits, insurance, and a five-figure commission for the creation of a new work, and so our current financial challenge with these programs is ensuring we are maintaining funding from institutional funders and individual donors, while identifying and soliciting increased and new support.

We remain committed to our long-term goals of continuing to advance equitable wages for artists, enhance our visibility as an organization led by Bill T. Jones, deepen our programming while remaining a diverse, accessible, and equitable center for cultural discourse, and maximizing and updating our capital infrastructure and equipment. At a period when we face numerous reductions from funders, we aim to increase our level of support in the years ahead to help ensure our financial stability.

In terms of executing our strategic goals mentioned above in the previous section, our organization's strategies in how we plan to execute our goals will be the following:

1. Ensure the artistic vibrancy of the organization

- Balance presenting season with recognizable, established artists and lesser-known artists; 1-2 headliners/year to serve as anchors on our season and leverage ticket packages.
- Pursue co-commissioning opportunities with peer cultural organizations locally and nationally. Partner with other organizations to enhance opportunities.
- Continue to analyze existing programs for effectiveness.
- Complete a Legacy Plan that addresses Jones/Arnie Zane company, licensing of BTJ/AZ intellectual property, artistic directorship/succession planning, programming initiatives, stewardship of archives, naming opportunities, and securing the building into the future.
- Pilot youth and adult educational initiatives, with an emphasis on our immediate Chelsea neighborhood.

2. Enhance the Financial Stability and Sustainability of our Organization

- Strengthen Board member involvement in the fundraising process to develop prospects across all areas of Live Arts’ development. This will include a consistent effort to foster a culture among Board members that constructively encourages peer-to-peer fundraising, and the availability of training and tools. Focus on building the individual donor base at all levels (membership, mid-level donors and major donors).
- Continue to build and diversify the board of directors based on the minimum level of board giving with the hope of adding members that are able to give above that level.
- Create a plan to build special events so that at the end of five years, the organization will achieve a minimum of $1MM in special events gross income.
- Build our post-pandemic audience base back to an average box office sales level of 75%.

3. Secure an identity for our organization

- Maintain a robust budget for marketing and public relations
- Complete 3-year institutional marketing plan; balance institutional marketing & PR with attraction coverage.
- Identify audience development opportunities within the Chelsea community and more broadly.
- Assess the organization’s street presence.
- Address the organization’s challenges with the lobby, opening the lobby to the community.
- Improve online and digital communications, including website and online ticket sales interface.

New York Live Arts was formed in 2011 by the merger of Dance Theater Workshop and the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. Inspired by the legacies of Mr. Jones and the 45-year history of Dance Theater Workshop as a leader in the field, New York Live Arts is a vibrant hub of contemporary dance and movement-based experimentation, offering audiences meaningful experiences that are both thought provoking and intimate.

Leading and managing the growth of New York Live Arts are Kim Cullen, our Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, and Richard H. Levy, our Board Chair. New York Live Arts has a 21-person governing Board of Directors, 10-person Advisory Council, currently employs over 40 full and part-time staff, including company dancers and works with nearly 100 volunteers. Senior staff members at New York Live Arts are national leaders in their fields; our senior staff members have held positions at the American Conservatory Theater, American Dance Festival, Brooklyn Museum, Carnegie Hall, Cleveland Museum of Art, Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York Foundation For the Arts, Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project, Pina Bausch's Tanztheater Wuppertal and The Wexner Center.

Our annual budget is in excess of $ 5.7 million, with approximately one-third of our income from earned revenue, and two-thirds from contributed revenue from fundraising. New York Live Arts' building is fully accessible to people with disabilities, and New York Live Arts is firmly committed to equal opportunities for staff, students, artists and users of our building and services.

Our new five-year plan takes us through 2025 and beyond. We are planning from a sound financial position – including an operating cash reserve and a building reserve of close to $1 million, strong relationships with key funding partners and a recently completed studio renovation expanding our capacity for programming.

We have an expanding number of partners with whom we work including, but not limited to: Arizona State University, Bard College, Barnard College, The Invisible Dog, Kaatsbaan, Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography (MANCC), Montclair State University, Museum of Arts and Design, The New School, New York State DanceForce, 651 Arts, P.S.122, SUNY Purchase, Ellen Robbins, Skidmore College, YoungArts and Urban Word NYC.

Across all our areas of activity –performance, creation and participation – we aim to be a home for courageous, inclusive and inventive live art that is vital to the cultural fabric of New York, the U.S. and beyond. With a commitment to excellence, innovation and diversity, we continue to enrich the human experience through dance and live art.