Bronx Council on the Arts

The Bronx Council on the Arts was founded in the early 1960s when community leaders: Jerry Klot, Reverend William Kaladjian and others came together to provide summer arts & culture activities in the Bronx. In 1969 the Bronx Council on the arts merged with the Bronx Committee on the Arts and worked to improve access to the arts around the Bronx by introducing various programs around the Borough including the Bronx regrets program and the opening of the Bronx Museum of the Arts.^[4]

As the Bronx Council on the Arts continued to grow they offered their programs at various galleries and venues located throughout the Bronx but lacked a central space. That changed in 2011 when Chase donated the former Washington Mutual Branch located at 2700 East Tremont Avenue to be used as their headquarters. Due to lack of funds, the group was unable to develop and utilize the space. In 2015 with support from Councilman James Vacca and Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr and other donors, they were was able to obtain the funds needed to renovate the building and utilize it as their central office^[5] and moved in during 2019.

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Bronx Museum of the Arts

Bronx Museum of the Arts

The Bronx Museum of the Arts (BxMA), also called the Bronx Museum of Art or simply the Bronx Museum, is an American cultural institution located in Concourse, Bronx, New York. The museum focuses on contemporary and 20th-century works created by American artists, but it has hosted exhibitions of art and design from Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Its permanent collection consists of more than 800 paintings, sculptures, photographs, and works on paper. The museum is part of the Grand Concourse Historic District.

The Bronx

The Bronx

The Bronx is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New York City borough of Queens, across the East River. The Bronx has a land area of 42 square miles (109 km2) and a population of 1,472,654 in the 2020 census. If each borough were ranked as a city, the Bronx would rank as the ninth-most-populous in the U.S. Of the five boroughs, it has the fourth-largest area, fourth-highest population, and third-highest population density. It is the only borough of New York City not primarily on an island. With a population that is 54.8% Hispanic as of 2020, it is the only majority-Hispanic county in the Northeastern United States and the fourth-most-populous nationwide.

Chase Bank

Chase Bank

JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase Bank or often as Chase, is an American national bank headquartered in New York City, that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of the U.S. multinational banking and financial services holding company, JPMorgan Chase. The bank was known as Chase Manhattan Bank until it merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2000. Chase Manhattan Bank was formed by the merger of the Chase National Bank and the Manhattan Company in 1955. The bank merged with Bank One Corporation in 2004 and in 2008 acquired the deposits and most assets of Washington Mutual.

Washington Mutual

Washington Mutual

Washington Mutual was the United States' largest savings and loan association until its collapse in 2008.

James Vacca

James Vacca

James Vacca is an American politician who served in the New York City Council from the 13th district from 2006 to 2017. He is a Democrat.

Borough president

Borough president

The borough president is an elected office in each of the five Boroughs of New York City. For most of the city's history, the office exercised significant executive powers within each borough, and the five borough presidents also sat on the New York City Board of Estimate. Since 1990, the borough presidents have been stripped of a majority of their powers in the government of New York City.

The Bronx Council on the Arts runs several programs including:

• Bronx Recognizes Its Own Award (BRIO), established 1989^[6][7] to support Bronx based artists and performers. The number of recipients and amount each grantee received has varied over the years and recipients are expected to do community service for a local arts organization as part of the award.^[8][6]
• Bronx Writers Center - creative writing and professional development workshops. The Bronx Memoir Project is one of its projects.
• Longwood Art Gallery - hosted by Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture in the Hostos Community College campus.
• The Bronx Cultural Trolley Arts and Culture Tour.

In 2011 the Bronx Council on the Arts created the APPLAUSE award to recognize artists and leaders from the Bronx. The first recipients included Eva Bornstein, executive director of Lehman Center for the Performing Arts; Madaha Kinsey-Lamb, founder and executive director of Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center; Holly Block, executive director of the Bronx Museum of the Arts; Gail Nathan, executive director of the Bronx River Art Center; and Rosalba Rolón, artistic director of Pregones Theater.^[3]

In 1996, the Bronx Council on the Arts created the Bronx Writers Center as a means of fostering community and empowering writers. The program has grown into a yearly series of workshops located at various cultural venues across the Bronx and functions as not just a place for emerging writers to cultivate their skill but a place for writers to find creative mentors, network and work on professional development. Through collaboration with PEN American Center and the Bronx Museum of the Arts participants have the opportunity to participate in PEN World Voices literary festival. In 2013, Charlie Vazquez led a weekly writing workshop at the Bronx Writing Center.