• Mentoring the next generation of creators—Sofia Coppola welcomes 92Y teen producers

  “I heard about 92Y’s program and asked if the Teen Producers would like to visit my production during filming in New York. The film business is such a closed world, and I’m eager to find ways for young people outside of it to have the opportunity to visit the sets and learn about the work. I hope this program will give more access. The students were all thoughtful and engaged, and I look forward to their program expanding.”

  —Sofia Coppola

  Mentoring the next generation of creators

  Developed by 92Y’s Center for Arts Learning and Leadership (CALL), the Teen Producers program is a two-year career exploration and mentorship initiative for arts-leaning NYC public high school juniors and seniors. Oscar-winning writer/director Sofia Coppola offered 10 students a rare inside look at the world of film production at the highest level. She brought them into her pre-production studios last spring to talk with her creative team—and over the summer, gave several of them jobs as production assistants on the set of On the Rocks. In November, she welcomed three of the teen producers to her post-production offices, talking one-on-one about the creative process and the business of film.

  Because of the 92Y Teen Producers program, a group of 2019 Bronx public high school students were able to experience something remarkable, as a groundbreaking program brought them lessons from the very top.

  Learn how 92Y’s Teen Producers had the opportunity to work as production assistants on the set of Sofia Coppola’s new film, On the Rocks, starring Bill Murray.

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• Your support brings arts education to:

  16,000

  NYC public school students and teachers

  93%

  of all NYC school districts feature 92Y programs

• Young Writers Workshop: Finding their voices, writing the future

  “I fell in love with poetry,” a student wrote about their experience at the Unterberg Poetry Center’s Young Writers Workshop this past summer. The program empowers students to flex their creativity in poetry, fiction and more—helping a new generation find their collective voice and articulate truths that will carry them into adulthood. “I knew I was learning from such talented and devoted instructors who would always push me,” wrote another student. “They really challenged us to grow.” As we develop new workshops for younger students and event teachers, we’re inspired by the fact that this kind of growth doesn’t end with summer—it lasts a lifetime.

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• NYC’s first-ever Teen Arts Week: Connecting teens to the arts as never before

  “Today’s teenagers will take over the world eventually. This new festival gives them a head start,” wrote The New York Times in May, as MoMA, BAM, the Met and 30 more NYC arts organizations were flooded with teens—many of whom had not set foot inside them before. Teen Arts Week, the first festival of its kind, was developed by the 10 Teen Producers in 92Y’s pioneering arts career exploration and mentorship program. It’s all part of a program by CALL, 92Y’s Center for Arts Learning and Leadership. From filmmaking workshops to music jams, choreography creation to poetry slams, Teen Arts Week provided thrilling exposure for teens passionate about the arts—all for free—in the cultural heart of New York City.

• Developed by

  10 92Y teen producers

  Featuring

  33 arts organizations

  47 events and activities

  Engaging

  1,270 teens in all 5 boroughs

Art travel: Deepening the artistic experience

Connecting people as they pursue the things they care most about and giving them opportunities to explore their full potential—that’s what 92Y is all about. And this year, new art immersion tours to destinations like the Venice Biennale, and art makers’ journeys to locations like Ireland’s Mayo Coast and the Italian Alps are captivating our Art Center community. In May, instructor Wennie Huang and Center Director Allison Valchuis took a group of Huang’s students for four days painting on Cape Cod. “This experience transformed my students’ self of themselves as artists,” says Huang. And alongside the joys of creativity and self-expression, the students found community. “Being together with other artists gave me so many new ideas. And I’m so happy that I made new friends,” says student Michelle Mahana.

• A jewelry artist in residence takes her work to new levels

  “92Y has made me realize what I have always wanted to do—go big in my creations. It has given me courage.” Claudia Lepik, rising star of the European avant-garde jewelry world, was our 2019 Jewelry Artist in Residence, selected by an expert jury from a record number of jewelry artists from 33 countries. This unique residency provides time, space and facilities for research, experimentation and the cultivation of new ideas. “The fact that, at this early stage in my career, someone really appreciates my work and wants to push me further—to me it’s really, really great,” says Claudia.

  “Claudia’s work is arresting, beautiful and challenging. She represents the next wave in how contemporary jewelry is considered,” says Jewelry Center Director Jonathan Wahl.

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The life-enhancing community of the Himan Brown Senior Program

The Himan Brown Senior Program is the embodiment of 92nd Street Y’s values—a haven for its 700 members who come every day for learning, fun and conversation. It’s a place to find purpose and meaning through the social, educational and spiritual opportunities the program offers. And it’s where the sense of community is so strong it’s literally life-affirming. “I truly don’t think I would have survived as well as I did after my surgery without my friends from the program,” says Marcia Budd, a Himan Brown member for 10 years. “I enjoyed the program so much when I was feeling good that it kept me going throughout my treatment. My 92Y friends would volunteer to go to my appointments with me. They held my hand, made me laugh, took my mind off what was happening. The Himan Brown Senior Program made me want to live.” “People are drawn to 92Y’s senior program by the 60-plus classes a week, led by the highest caliber teachers,” says Program Director Julia Zeuner. “But it’s the community that keeps them here—the community of real friends. I am honored to work with them every day.”

• Bringing meaning and connection into the lives of a new generation through Judaism

  For the High Holidays this year, 92Y’s Bronfman Center for Jewish Life lead by Rabbi Peter J. Rubinstein created a series of services, Renew, to bring new voices into a broader conversation about Jewish life. “We invited comics, writers and philosophers to explore answers to the questions that every person needs to ask,” says Rabbi Scott Perlo, who led the Renew services. “It’s all in an effort to help people find connection with something greater than themselves.”

  Renew is just one of the new activities created by Rabbi Rubinstein and his team to offer anyone with an interest in Judaism the chance to learn, grow, and have fun. Forging intergenerational community bonds helps us find new connections to old traditions. It is a lodestar of the faith that has sustained us for thousands of years.

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• • High Holiday Services 5780

  • High Holidays @ home Facebook Group

  • A New Song for the New Year

  • 20,000

    Video views from 120 countries

    558,000

    Minutes viewed

  • 2,200+

    Members in 52 countries

    6,500+

    Engagements on Facebook

  • 613,000

    Views

    6,000

    Shares

    34,000

    Total Engagements in 75 Countries

• Cultural exchange in leaps and bounds

  In a divided world, 92Y’s Harkness Dance Center promotes human communication and movement in its most magical, fundamental form. A young master choreographer from Madrid blends Japanese Butoh and contemporary Spanish dance to radically reshape the flamenco tradition. A Japanese dancer takes classic American tap to dizzying new heights. A Belfast artist uses strains of neoclassical ballet and urban street dance to create a powerful contemporary riff on social justice. Dancer/choreographers like Sara Cano, Kazu Kumagai and Oona Doherty are just a few of the artists who are passing through 92Y this season—forging a unique cultural dialogue and pushing the international language of dance into unchartered new territory.

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• Strokes of unity: 92Y launches Special Olympics swim team

  Last spring, 92Y’s May Center for Health, Fitness & Sport launched the 92Y Special Olympics Swim Team, opening up the world of competitive swimming to children and young adults with intellectual disabilities. For eight weeks, six young athletes—all of whom participated at no cost—trained in the 92Y pool, and three competed in the Special Olympics New York Summer Games, winning five medals between them. The swimmers gained confidence and motivation, supported by a new community of teammates and coaches. The team is led by the May Center’s Jeffrey Bonaccorso and Kim Weiss, both with a deep passion for working with children with special needs.

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• From the very first steps to the very first grandchild … supporting families every step of the way

  Children and families have always been at the heart of 92Y, and the programs and community that have grown up around them are unique in New York City.

  “Everyone in the child’s life is welcomed here to learn and grow,” says Sally Tannen, Director of the Parenting and Grandparents Centers. New initiatives like the Parent/Caregiver Connection and popular classes for grandparents provide invaluable expertise. Ellen Birnbaum, Director of Early Childhood Programs, says: “We’re striving to create a place that connects all the most important people in a child’s world—the parents, grandparents, caregivers, teachers, teaching artists and instructors. And through more than $1 million in scholarships, no family need ever be turned away because of an inability to pay.”

• 92Y Programs for Children & Families

  1,185

  programs

  $1 million+

  in scholarships

A celebration of extraordinary women

In November, we celebrated our fourth annual Extraordinary Women Awards, honoring five women who are cutting new pathways. Emily Tisch Sussman, moderated a conversation between our honorees.

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  Judy Glickman Lauder

  Judy Glickman Lauder is an internationally recognized photographer, humanitarian, and philanthropist. Her work is held in private collections and public institutions around the world, including the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and the United States Holocaust Museum, Washington, DC. She is represented by the Howard Greenberg Gallery in New York City.

  A number of her photographs were recently published by the Aperture Foundation in a book titled Beyond the Shadows: The Holocaust and the Danish Exception (2018). These photographs are also the subject of two traveling exhibitions, Holocaust: The Presence of the Past and Resistance and Rescue: Denmark’s Response to the Holocaust, which have been shown at more than two hundred institutions around the world. Other books include Upon Reflection: Photographs by Judy Ellis Glickman (2012) and Both Sides of the Camera: Photographs from the Collection of Judith Ellis Glickman (2007), as well as a book on the work of her father, For the Love of It: the Photography of Irving Bennett Ellis (2008).

  Ms. Glickman Lauder serves on the Board of Trustees of the Portland Museum of Art and is a member of both the Getty Museum Photographic Council and the Photographic Visiting Committee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In addition, she is a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain.

  Judy Glickman Lauder, photographer, humanitarian, philanthropist and author of the book Beyond the Shadows

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  Shantell Martin, an artist who makes connections between art, education, design, philosophy and technology

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  Shantell Martin

  Shantell Martin’s work is marked by her trademark black-and-white, spontaneous freestyle compositions that break down walls between community and creator and immerse viewers in the creative process. As 92Y’s first multimedia artist in residence, and a leader in making art accessible, Shantell embodies the qualities and values that we at 92Y strive to celebrate, and she is committed to being part of the conversation and solution toward empowering women and fostering change. We are proud to have mounted Shantell’s groundbreaking exhibition, Why Now, and featured her in several talks and performances on our stage, including in conversation with Ilana Glazer. Her commitment to changing how the art world is seen and experienced, particularly at 92Y, has been an inspiration, and her impact as an extraordinary artist, role model and woman deserve to be recognized.

  Below the surface of Shantell Martin’s signature black and white drawings is an artists’ inquiry into the role of artist and viewer, where a work of art is more than an object of admiration disconnected from its inception. With a meditative process defined by an uninhibited flow, her compositions embody her internal state and the impermanence of the world around her. Exploring themes such as intersectionality, identity and play, Martin is a cultural facilitator, forging new connections between fine art, education, design, philosophy and technology.

  Lisa Blau

  Lisa Blau has spent the last decade as an active angel investor focused on consumer businesses, often in the health, wellness and active lifestyle space with a particular interest in supporting women-led entrepreneurial ventures. Together with Amanda Eilian, she is the founding partner of _able, an investment fund focused on funding early-stage startups in the healthy living and lifestyle space, with a focus on female founders. Some of their investments include Juice Beauty, Daily Harvest, The Wing, Primary Kids, Moon Juice, Goop and Chief. Previously, Lisa cofounded VitalJuice.com, a daily email newsletter on healthy living tips and trends that was acquired by Tasting Table. She also helped build and launch Portero, an online luxury goods auction platform sold to Richemont. She has experience building businesses from the ground up with partners such as AOL, Amazon, Kleiner Perkins and The Pilot Group. Lisa started her career as a producer at CNN. She is a Board Member of The New York Public Library, KIPP New York, and The Mount Sinai Parenting Center. Lisa also chairs the Investment Committee of the Leadership Now Project, a membership organization of business professionals committed to renewing democracy. She has a B.A. from Duke University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Lisa lives in New York City with her husband and three children.

  Lisa Blau, co-founder of _able Partners, an investment fund focused on supporting visionary female founders and their early-stage brands in the positive, healthy living space

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  Amanda Eilian

  Amanda Eilian is a General Partner and co-founder of __able Partners, a venture capital firm focused on early stage companies in the positive living space. With over 40 companies in the portfolio, and more than 75% with female founders, __able’s investments include Goop, The Wing, Daily Harvest, and Bulletproof. Amanda was also the co-founder of Videolicious, an enterprise software video creation platform backed by Amazon, and served as its President from 2007 to 2019 when it was acquired by a multinational strategic buyer. Amanda was instrumental in the launch and growth of Videolicious to over 5 million users in 103 countries, including Fortune 500 companies such as IBM, Walmart, SAP, Verizon and GE. Prior to forming Videolicious, Amanda was a founding partner of Capitol Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition vehicle (SPAC) that completed a $265 million initial public offering and became Two Harbors Investment Corp., a $3 billion REIT (NYSE: TWO). Amanda began her career in private equity and mergers and acquisitions.

  Amanda is a Truman Scholar and received her MBA from Harvard Business School where she was a Baker Scholar, and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service with Honors in Economics. Amanda serves on the Board of Directors of Juice Beauty, the largest organic skincare brand in North America, and on the Board of Directors of the Melanoma Research Alliance, the largest private funder of melanoma research. She is also a member of the Tech:NYC Leadership Council. Amanda resides in New York City with her husband and four children.

  Amanda Eilian, co-founder of _able Partners, an investment fund focused on supporting visionary female founders and their early-stage brands in the positive, healthy living space

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  Dre Thomas

  Dre Thomas, 30, was raised in Los Angeles by a hardworking, service-minded single mom. Thomas works full time in the marketing department of WeWork, but she has become known for singlehandedly conceiving and launching Smile On Me, an organization that seeks to change the trajectory of girls’ lives through the basic tools of self care and the self esteem that comes with them.

  Growing up in a “family of hand-me-downs,” sharing things like clothes and hygiene products with her mom and sisters, Thomas understood how important it is for young girls to have their own stuff. She also knew that 30 percent of New York City girls live in poverty. The cost of feminine hygiene products can be as high as $100 annually and can compete with other basic necessities like toilet paper, food, and lodging. Often times, lower income girls do not feel adequately prepared for puberty. By not educating girls about this transition, we are neglecting an opportunity to build a healthy foundation for sexual and reproductive health.

  Since its 2017 launch, Thomas and Smile On Me have collected more than 5,000 feminine hygiene products, facilitated workshops and an annual summit focused on personal hygiene, leadership, and self-esteem, and distributed bags filled with hygiene products to hundreds of girls in low-income communities throughout New York City.

  Dre Thomas, Extraordinary Women Impact Award honoree, nominated by the community for her work with Smile on Me

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  Emily Tisch Sussman, progressive strategist, host of the podcast Your Primary Playlist, and frequent commentator on MSNBC, CNN and Fox News

Meet some of the extraordinary women in 92Y’s community

92Y Recanati-Kaplan Talks—a forum for today’s biggest thinkers

92Y Talks forges a diverse, multi-generational community where the worlds of art, business, politics and pop can meet to enliven one another—a crucial part of the bedrock of American culture. Curating almost 500 conversations each year with the world’s foremost thought leaders and cultural icons, the program is now the largest of its kind housed within a cultural and community organization. Stacey Abrams, Jean-Paul Agon, Julie Andrews, David Brooks, Arielle Charnas, Laura Dern, Tan France, Ina Garten, Frank Gehry, Jeff Goldblum, Doris Kearns Goodwin, John Grisham, Tom Hanks, Robert Iger, Glenda Jackson, Alex Katz, Gayle King, May Lin, Lizzo, Lin-Manuel Miranda, John Mulaney, Gwyneth Paltrow, Itzhak Perlman, David Rubenstein, Wanda Sykes, Oprah Winfrey, and many more inspired and engaged tens of thousands of people in person from our stage, and millions more via livestream and on-demand video. And speaking of audiences, membership of XYZ, the new initiative of 92Y that curates special experiences and events for younger audiences, has grown to 21,500+ people. It’s all about creating a space for real dialogue that everyone can be part of.

Our rotating art exhibitions—an initiative that began with Shantell Martin’s residency in 2018—offer startling and necessary new looks at contemporary life to anyone who walks through the doors of the Weill Art Gallery. In Natsuko Hattori: Forever, colorful fabric-wrapped installation pieces billow off the walls, imbuing ordinary surfaces with a radiant sense of energy and renewal. Judy Glickman Lauder’s photographs document the survivors of the Danish resistance—the heroes who rescued and hid 7,000 Jews during World War II. Bonnie Lautenberg’s images of the Arctic and the Israeli desert throw an intimate vision of the environment onto a grade scale. “I’m looking for artists whose work is accessible to people of all ages, everyone who moves through the space,” says Art Center Director Allison Valchuis. These exhibitions, free and open to the public, offer the entire 92Y community a flash of insight and a sense of revelation—directing us outside of our individual lives and toward each other.

• Inflection concert series—Transforming the way we experience music

  A Mozart masterpiece played by musicians standing on chairs, a dancer weaving between them; a Baroque suite performed by an orchestra in motion … the second season of 92Y’s new Inflection series merging music, movement, literature and visual art opened to an ecstatic response in November, with a concert Anthony Tommasini named a “Best Classical Performance of the Year” in The New York Times. The Geneva Camerata’s Dance of the Sun is one of six dynamic productions in the series which this season explores universal truths found in legend and myth. Curated by Tisch Center for the Arts Director Hanna Arie-Gaifman, and made possible by a generous gift from Eva Colin Usdan and John Usdan to the Inventions and Variations Fund for the Arts, with additional major support generously provided by The Sidney E. Frank Foundation, Inflection was conceived, says Arie-Gaifman, “to allow the kind of creative risks that leave us awakened.”

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