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CENTER FOR ART RESEARCH AND ALLIANCES INC
NEW YORK, NY · EIN 822227696 · Form 990 · FY2023 · NTEE A40 · Arts, Culture & Humanities · Medium ($1M-$10M) · cara-nyc.org
revenue
$2.8M
expenses
$2.5M
net assets
$6.3M
employees
18
volunteers
13
program ratio
79%
mission · from form 990

CENTER FOR ART, RESEARCH AND ALLIANCES IS AN EMERGENT ARTS NONPROFIT, RESEARCH CENTER AND PUBLISHER THAT AIMS TO EXPAND PUBLIC DISCOURSES AND HISTORICAL RECORDS TO REFLECT ART'S ADBUNDANT PASTS, PRESENTS, AND FUTURES THROUGH INITIATIVES INCLUDING PUBLICATIONS, PUBLIC PROGRAMS, FELLOWSHIPS, AND EXHIBITIONS.

profile · synthesized from sources

Center for Art, Research and Alliances (CARA) is a New York-based nonprofit advancing public discourse and historical narratives in art through exhibitions, publications, and public programs. It supports artists and scholars working at the intersections of art, research, and social justice, with a focus on underrepresented histories and experimental practices. The organization operates as both a research center and a cultural publisher.

irs program accomplishments · form 990 part iii · fy2023

What they reported doing

  1. #1 primary $588K
    BOOKSTOREAS PART OF OUR PUBLIC PROGRAM, OUR BOOKSHOP WILL FEATURE BOOKS THAT EXPAND PUBLIC DISCOURSES AND HISTORICAL RECORDS TO REFLECT ART'S ABUNDANT PASTS, PRESENTS, AND FUTURES.
  2. #2 $196K
    PUBLISHINGPROVIDING PUBLISHING OPPORTUNITIES TO EXPAND PUBLIC DISCOURSES AND HISTORICAL RECORDS TO REFLECT ART'S ABUNDANT PAST, PRESENTS, AND FUTURES.
named programs · 4 · from sources

What they call their work

CARA Bookstore
A public-facing bookstore offering titles that reflect and expand discourses on art, history, and social justice.
Exhibitions
Curates and presents contemporary art exhibitions focusing on underrepresented narratives, including solo and survey shows by artists such as Akinsanya Kambon and Johanna Hedva.
Public Programs
Hosts book launches, artist talks, and interdisciplinary conversations that engage audiences with experimental art and research.
Publications
Produces artist monographs, critical essays, and experimental texts that expand historical and cultural discourse in the arts.
activities · 7 groups

What they do

  • Artist Support Grants 1 activity
    • Award unrestricted grants to artists and arts advocates
      Funds artists and arts advocates through unrestricted grants, including two annual $10,000 awards and a two-year $75,000 CARA Fellowship, to support transformative work in art, history, and culture.
  • Curated Art Exhibitions and Public Displays 1 activity
    • Curate and host art exhibitions
      Curates and presents exhibitions by contemporary and historically significant artists, including solo and thematic group shows, with recent and upcoming exhibitions by Akinsanya Kambon, Johanna Hedva, Édouard Glissant, E’wao Kagoshima, Tina Girouard, Javier Téllez, Ligia Lewis, Neo Muyanga, and others.
  • Benefit Events for Arts and Culture 1 activity
    • Host annual fundraising and recognition events
      Organizes the annual Fall Feast & Legacy Awards event to raise funds and recognize contributions to art and culture, supporting field-expanding work in research, publishing, exhibitions, fellowships, and public programs.
  • Literary Events & Workshops 1 activity
    • Host public programs and events
      Organizes free public programs including listening sessions, book launches, panel conversations, and youth showcases, such as the Octavia Project Summer Showcase and events centered on sound, cultural memory, and liberation.
  • Artist and Curatorial Publications 1 activity
    • Operate a public bookshop to expand discourses on art
      Runs a public bookshop that features books expanding public discourses and historical records around art’s pasts, presents, and futures, including hosting book launches and making publications available for purchase.
  • Literary and Cultural Publishing 1 activity
    • Provide publishing opportunities to challenge dominant narratives
      Supports the publication of experimental research, writing in translation, and newly commissioned texts that expand historical records and challenge disciplinary boundaries, including through its own imprint and major illustrated publications.
  • Uncategorized 1 activity
    • Conduct research initiatives on art and cultural memory
      Leads interdisciplinary research projects exploring themes such as creolization, Black resistance, and modernist legacies, including the "Abécédaire" series and publications on Amaza Lee Meredith and Édouard Glissant.
financials · form 990 · fy2023
revenue
Total revenue$2.77M
Contributions & grants$2.72M98%
Program service revenue$00%
Investment income$50%
Other revenue$48K
expenses
Total expenses$2.52M
Program expenses79%
Admin / overhead12%
Fundraising10%
Salaries & benefits$1.10M
Grants paid out$150K
Largest expense lineCompensation
balance sheet
Total assets$6.41M
Cash$645K
Investments$0
Liabilities$111K
Net assets$6.30M
Liquid reserves3.1 mo
4 years on record · 2020–2023 · YoY revenue +39.1%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2023

Who runs it

paid leadership · 2
NameTitleHours/wkCompensation
MANUELA MOSCOSO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 40 $248K
MAYA PIERGIES DEPUTY DIRECTOR 40 $168K
board members · 13
  • ANDREW MARKS — TREASURER
  • BONAVENTURE SOH BEJENG NDIKUNG — DIRECTOR
  • HELEN WARWICK — DIRECTOR
  • HOWARD MARKS — DIRECTOR
  • JANE HAIT — FOUNDER AND BOARD CHAIR
  • JULIA TROTTA — DIRECTOR
  • KELLY TAXTER — DIRECTOR
  • MARIANA CASTILLO DEBALL — DIRECTOR
  • MATT KEEGAN — DIRECTOR
  • MIKO MCGINTY — DIRECTOR
  • SCHUSTER TANGER — DIRECTOR
  • SHAHED LARSON — DIRECTOR
  • SHERALLY MUNSHI — DIRECTOR
relationships · 35

Who they work with

  • 36th Bienal de São Paulo Partner — Co-published multiple works including 'Souffles', 'Bigidi mè pa tonbé', 'Mawali—Taqsim', and 'Bukimi No Tani'.
  • Akinsanya Kambon Partner — Artist featured in the current exhibition "Soul Sessions" at CARA.
  • Bilna'es Partner — Partnered with the adisciplinary platform Bilna'es, which released Muyassar Kurdi's record "Mountains of Poetry", to present the listening session.
  • CARA Network — Central hub for interconnected programs in exhibitions, public programming, publishing, and fellowships focused on artistic and scholarly research.
  • Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College Partner — Collaborates with faculty member Serubiri Moses, who teaches at Bard College and is published by CARA.
  • Chang Yuchen Partner — Co-leads the research and exhibition project "Abécédaire: Alphabet."
  • Cisco Bradley Partner — Collaborated on a public book launch event for his publication on free jazz and Black Power.
  • Cisco Bradley Partner — Participates in a public conversation hosted by CARA on freedom and change.
  • Gabriel Dubourg Partner — Designer of the Interlope Script typeface used in the event materials.
  • Gabriel Jermaine Vanlandingham-Dunn Partner — Co-hosts a public conversation with Cisco Bradley and Kwami Coleman on freedom and change.
  • Gabriel Jermaine Vanlandingham-Dunn Partner — Featured as a participant in a public event, contributing a foreword to one of the books and providing live vinyl playback during the conversation.
  • Hunter College Partner — Collaborates with faculty member Serubiri Moses, who teaches at Hunter College and is published by CARA.
  • Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University Partner — Co-published the publication _Dear Mazie,_ and hosted the accompanying exhibition.
  • Instituto Tomie Ohtake Partner — Co-published the book The Earth, the Fire, the Water, and the Winds: For a Museum of Errantry with Édouard Glissant.
  • Jason Evans Partner — Hosted filmmaker and curator Jason Evans for a conversation with Muyassar Kurdi on sound, image, embodiment, and place.
  • Jason Evans Partner — Participates in a listening session on "Mountains of Poetry" at CARA.
  • Joan Shigekawa Partner — Honoree of the 2026 CARA Legacy Award for enduring contributions to art.
  • Johanna Hedva Partner — Artist featured in an upcoming solo exhibition at CARA.
  • Kaiama L. Glover Partner — Collaborates on the research initiative "Abécédaire: Creolization."
  • Kwami Coleman Partner — Collaborated on a public book launch event for his publication on the stylistic genealogy of free jazz.
  • Kwami Coleman Partner — Participates in a public conversation hosted by CARA on freedom and change.
  • Marian Chudnovsky Partner — Leads research programming on "After Édouard Glissant’s Abécédaire."
  • Michel DeGraff Partner — Collaborates on the research initiative "Abécédaire: Creolization."
  • Miho Hatori Partner — Collaborates on the research initiative "Abécédaire: Creolization."
  • Muyassar Kurdi Partner — Collaborated with interdisciplinary artist Muyassar Kurdi to present a listening session and conversation around her record "Mountains of Poetry".
  • Muyassar Kurdi Partner — Participates in a listening session on "Mountains of Poetry" at CARA.
  • Nolan Oswald Dennis Partner — Co-leads the research and exhibition project "Abécédaire: Alphabet."
  • Octavia Project Partner — Hosts the Octavia Project's Summer Showcase and collaborates on programming for young women and trans and nonbinary youth
  • Pablo José Ramírez Partner — Curated CARA's 2026 exhibition _Gravity, My / Favorite Enemy_ by Johanna Hedva.
  • Rachel Valinsky Partner — Leads research programming on "After Édouard Glissant’s Abécédaire."
+ 5 more
strategies · 5

How they approach the work

Named approaches extracted from this org’s sources. Where others share an approach, follow it to see the full set of orgs running it.

  • Decentralized, Research-Driven Cultural Production
    methodology: decentralized_research_integration
    By integrating scholarship, artistic practice, and activism through a decentralized model, the organization generates holistic cultural programs because it treats research not as a precursor but as co-constitutive with curatorial and discursive action.
  • Exhibition as Research Platform
    methodology: exhibition-as-research-platform
    By using curated art exhibitions as primary vehicles for inquiry, the organization produces deep audience engagement with research-based and alliance-driven cultural discourse because exhibitions become dynamic sites of knowledge production rather than static displays.
  • Glissantian Abécédaire Framework
    methodology: glissantian_abecedaire
    By applying Édouard Glissant’s Abécédaire as a conceptual model, the organization fosters interdisciplinary research and programming that embraces creolization, hybridity, and non-linear knowledge production because it values opacity, relation, and anti-universalism in cultural thought.
  • Radical Internationalism in Learning
    methodology: radical_internationalism_in_learning
    By structuring public programs around internationalist principles, the organization advances solidarity, polyvocality, and interdependence because shared global struggles are framed as interconnected, enabling pluralistic and decolonial forms of knowledge exchange.
  • Speculative Fiction as Interdisciplinary Pedagogy
    methodology: speculative-fiction-education
    By using speculative fiction as a lens, the organization integrates creative writing, art, science, and technology to foster youth leadership and community building because imagining alternative futures enables critical engagement with present-day structures and possibilities.