NYC DCA Celebrates Capital Funding Projects Across NYC Including Africa Center, Apollo Theater, American Museum Of Natural History

NYC DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS ANNOUNCES FUNDING FOR THE AFRICA CENTER & CULTURAL CAPITAL PROJECTS ACROSS MANHATTAN ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16

New York – On Thursday, November 16 at 2:30PM, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) Commissioner Laurie Cumbo will join cultural leaders to celebrate capital funding for Manhattan cultural groups included in the City’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget, which will support critical cultural infrastructure projects at institutions across the borough. The announcement will take place at The Africa Center, which is receiving major City funding in support of the ongoing project to fully build out the Center’s atrium at its headquarters on Fifth Avenue.

Opening its entire 25,000 square-foot ground floor space to the public, The Africa Center project will provide permanent infrastructure including HVAC, upgraded elevators, and climate control; the completed atrium will feature space for exhibitions, performances, a conference center, cafe, and other public uses.

Other Manhattan-based groups that received funding in this year’s capital budget include more than 30 groups across the borough, including The Apollo Theater, American Museum of Natural History, American Ballet Theatre, El Museo del Barrio, National Black Theater, The Joyce Theater, Park Avenue Armory, and more.

Joining Commissioner Cumbo at this event will be Uzodinma Iweala, the CEO of The Africa Center as well as an award-winning writer, filmmaker, and medical doctor. As the CEO of The Africa Center, he is dedicated to promoting new narratives about Africa and its Diaspora. Uzodinma was the CEO, Editor-In-Chief, and co-Founder of Ventures Africa magazine, a publication that covers the evolving business, policy, culture, and innovation spaces in Africa. His books include Beasts of No Nation, a novel released in 2005 to critical acclaim and adapted into a major motion picture.

About The Africa Center  

The Africa Center is transforming the world’s understanding of Africa, its Diaspora, and the role of people of African descent in the world. Serving as the hub for the exchange of ideas related to the continent, and in the spirit of collaboration with individuals and institutions who share our values, The Africa Center inspires enthusiasm, advances thought, and empowers action around Africa’s global impact on our collective futures. This mission is guided by a leadership team that includes Board Co-Chairs Chelsea Clinton and Jendayi Frazer, Board President Halima Aliko Dangote, and CEO Uzodinma Iweala.

The Africa Center’s physical presence on Fifth Avenue at the intersection of Harlem and the Museum Mile is a location that embodies the dynamism and diversity of Africa and its Diaspora in the heart of New York City. Caples Jefferson Architects (CJA) was engaged in 2016 to design the facility, responding to The Africa Center’s ethos as an experimental, inclusive institution fostering business, policy, and cultural exchange locally and globally. To serve the Center’s programming, the New York-based firm designed a receptive, flexible, and expansive structure—its Museum Mile location in East Harlem contextualized architecturally and programmatically.

Banner Image: African art. Image Credit – Karim MANJRA

NYC Department Of Cultural Affairs

The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) is the largest municipal funder of culture in the country and is committed to providing access to art and culture for all New Yorkers.