Dear Friends,

Let me tell you a story.

I’m an artist. Before I ever worked at LMCC, I was part of projects that LMCC supported (which still feels a little surreal to say). 

I was a creative producer on The Black Crook, a production conceived and directed by Joshua William Gelb that received an LMCC grant, and earlier I worked as an assistant director on The Saints Tour, a River To River Festival project written by Molly Rice and directed by Maureen Towey.

Both reimagined parts of New York’s history through performance and place, shaped how I think about collaboration, imagination, and what it means to create in this city, and helped build an artistic community that I am still part of today.

If you believe that art keeps this city alive, I hope you will make a gift to LMCC today.

Thank you for being part of this story with us.

Moe Yousuf
President & CEO, LMCC

P.S. Every contribution this season supports residencies, performances, and new public works across New York, the kind of projects that first brought me to LMCC years ago.

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In 1980, LMCC commissioned Nieuw Amsterdam Shoreline, created by Eric Arctander in partnership with the Public Art Fund. 

By mapping a vanished coastline, the project asked New Yorkers to think about the land we stand on and consider the layers of history, community, and civic projects that built this city.

As we reflect on this piece from our history, we’re reminded that art like this doesn’t just happen. It requires creative vision, civic partnerships, and a responsive community that believes in the power of public imagination. LMCC has always championed work that surprises us, challenges us, and helps us see our city different.

World Views, LMCC’s artist residency took place inside the upper floors of the World Trade Center from 1997 to 2001. The events of 9/11 forever changed the lives of every New Yorker. This included the devastating loss of LMCC resident artist Michael Richards, whose life and work we continue to remember.

In the months after 9/11, LMCC embraced its role as Manhattan’s cultural council, advocating for the arts community and responding in real time to the city’s needs as Lower Manhattan rebuilt. That same spirit drives us today as we continue to ask not only “What do artists need?” but also, “How do we advocate for artists in a rapidly changing city?”

Sometimes an artwork arrives that feels less like a sculpture and more like a glimpse into another possible world. This week, as we continued sifting through LMCC’s archive, we were struck by one of those rare projects: Mary Mattingly’s Triple Island (2013).

Built on the East River in a neighborhood still healing from Hurricane Sandy, Triple Island invited the city to imagine how we might live differently in a changing climate. It surprised people. It made them curious. And it demonstrated that imagination can be a form of preparedness.

Projects like Triple Island are why your support matters. LMCC has long championed artists who help us see our city’s future before it arrives. If you believe in supporting art that shows us what’s possible and helps guide our shared future, we hope you’ll make a gift to LMCC today.