Chris Gorman testifies for Cultural Institutions Group on CreateNYC partnership

Good afternoon, Chair Dr.

Williams and members of the Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries, and International Intergroup Relations.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

My name is Chris Gorman.

I'm Vice President of Public Affairs at the Museum of the City of New York, and I am honored to speak on behalf of Stephanie Hill Wilchfort, the museum's Rone Menschel Director and Chair of the Cultural Institutions Group, who could not be here today.

I'm here to provide testimony on behalf of the CIG, a coalition of 39 cultural organizations located in all five boroughs, including zoos, gardens, museums, and performing arts organizations.

Our institutions have been partners in Create NYC since it launched in 2017.

Nine years later, I want to share some of the ways our institutions execute on the goals of Create NYC and to offer the CIG as a partner of the city in developing future cultural plans for a new era.

On a personal note, my daughter was born in October of 2017, and I'm grateful she arrived in a city where culture and museums are supported and championed and continue to be, thanks to you and your committee members, Dr.

Williams.

The goal of Create NYC was to build a more inclusive, equitable, and resilient cultural ecosystem and to examine how cultural

equity can be advanced through government policy.

As public institutions, the CIGs have worked under the longstanding mission to ensure culture is affordable and accessible.

Our institutions welcome over 4 million free visits each year and serve as safe public spaces for people of all ages.

Each of our institutions expands its reach through partnerships,

with city agencies and community-based organizations to provide a host of services that complement our core missions, such as implementing the IDNYC program and serving as vaccination sites, voting sites, and cooling centers.

Our institutions have 15,700 full and part-time employees, including 5,800 union staff.

CIGs also employ approximately 6,000 per DM staff members, including teaching artists, musicians, explainers, educators, and other professionals.

We train the city's cultural workforce, and we draw cultural workers and creative industries to New York.

The CIG is essential to the city's economic prosperity and should continue to be integrated into the city's economic development strategy in both workforce development and attracting talent.

The CIG's educational resources for New York City students make New York a leader in museum education.

For example, in the last year at the Museum of the City of New York, we welcomed over 15,000 students on over 700 field trips.

Each field trip is offered in English and Spanish or with bilingual support, and all of our exhibitions offer feature labels in English and Spanish.

Public and charter schools in East Harlem visit for free.

Much like our peers across the CIG, our institutions also serve as essential partners for our public schools.

Public support is critical in order for our institutions to execute their missions and to deliver high-quality educational experiences for New Yorkers.

We are deeply grateful for the City Council and the Mumdani administration's historic commitment to culture in fiscal year 27.

Thank you again for the opportunity to testify as allies in helping the city execute key initiatives.

We look forward to strengthening our partnership and exploring new areas of collaboration to ensure that cultural workers can afford to live here, every child gets arts education, and every New Yorker is welcomed into our institutions.

Thank you.