he aftermath of the great recession has pulled yet another Harlem institution into its undertow. The New York Times reports that the Dwyer Cultural Center is also struggling to remain afloat.
The three-year-old center has held all manner of free and low cost art & cultural events including “visual art exhibitions, readings, writers’ workshops, children’s educational programs and music and theater performances,” according to the Times. But it has struggled to implement its business plan throughout that time, leading each year to $200,000-plus deficits.
The center planned to earn revenue by renting space to arts organizations and community groups but has been unable to attract enough tenants. It also failed to form the large influential board that is one of the keys to its success. Things got worse when the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status last year — after it failed to file tax returns for three years — depriving it of the foundation and government funding available to arts organizations.
The center is trying to recuperate and move ahead by expanding its board from 3 to 10 and especially needs people with marketing and finance expertise, a spokesperson for the center told the Times. The center is also trying to renegotiate leases with its current tenants.
If you would like to help, their contact information is here.
About the Author
Why do you’ll ask for help when it is damn near too late? Who is running the place? And why is it in such a financial crisis? This is New York. You put the wrong people in charge with no business sense. And then you sit back and watch the project crumble. I’ve been there several times. You got a couple of college grad intellects that look afrocentric but don’t know a damn thing about running a business. It breaks my heart. It is time to roll up your sleeves and get a couple of real hustlers in there that know how to handle the paper work and create revenue that is not based on handouts, donations and grants.