named programs · 5 · from sources
What they call their work
Arts-Based After-School Programs
Provides instruction in visual and performing arts for youth in grades 2–12, connecting traditional arts practices with contemporary expression.
Curriculum-Based Arts-in-Education
Brings arts instruction into public school classrooms, offering master classes, clinics, and assemblies aligned with academic curricula.
Jazz in the Valley
Intergenerational jazz festival and educational programming featuring living legends and emerging artists, promoting the evolution of jazz in the Hudson Valley.
Pinkster Celebration
Annual public gathering honoring the Afro-Dutch Pinkster tradition with music, dance, historical reenactment, and community dialogue in Kingston, NY.
Studio Art: Identity in Process, Community in Practice
Exhibition featuring artists Mark King, Brandon Thomas Brown, Yoko Izu, and Simi Stone, exploring identity and community through interdisciplinary studio art.
activities · 6 groups
What they do
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Community Art Education Workshops 2 activities
- Deliver arts education programs to youthProvides curriculum-based arts-in-education programs, after-school arts initiatives, master classes, clinics, and individual instruction in visual and performing arts for students in grades 2–12 within public schools. Programs are delivered in classroom and after-school settings and include staff development support for educators.
- Host year-round community cultural programmingOffers year-round programming designed to build communities and address social issues through art and culture in the Hudson River Valley, with a focus on integrating art into community life and centering joy as a form of resilience and resistance against systemic oppression.
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Curated Art Exhibitions and Public Displays 1 activity
- Organize and promote artistic exhibitions and performancesProduces visual art exhibitions, music performances, and interdisciplinary events that explore personal, cultural, and social identity, featuring both internationally renowned and local artists for multi-generational audiences. Exhibitions are hosted in traditional and non-traditional spaces across the Hudson Valley, including schools, universities, libraries, historic sites, and community venues.
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Community Festival & Event Production 1 activity
- Organize the Pinkster cultural celebrationProduces an annual re-imagined Pinkster festival that integrates historical and contemporary elements to share the story of a holiday rooted in African and Dutch 17th-century experiences. The celebration includes a Pentecost Sunday service, keynote address, historical interpretation, gospel music, a community procession with drumming and dancing through Kingston’s Stockade District, and an intergenerational cultural event featuring African and Afro-Cuban dance, music, reenactments, food, and community activities.
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Free Outdoor Music Concerts 1 activity
- Produce regional jazz festivalOrganizes the Hudson Valley’s longest-running jazz festival as part of its cultural programming.
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Regional Arts Advocacy & Promotion 1 activity
- Provide arts and cultural consulting servicesOffers consulting services in arts and culture to support organizations and institutions in the Mid-Hudson Valley.
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Historic Building Restoration and Preservation 1 activity
- Restore and preserve historic cultural sitesUndertakes capital projects to restore historic buildings, including the Burger-Matthews House in Kingston, NY, using grant funding and donations to stabilize and rehabilitate the structure for future use.
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financials · form 990 · fy2024
revenue
Total revenue$91K
Contributions & grants$51K56%
Program service revenue$38K42%
Investment income$9241%
Other revenue$712
expenses
Total expenses$601K
Program expenses71%
Admin / overhead29%
Fundraising0%
Salaries & benefits$171K
Grants paid out$0
Largest expense lineCompensation
balance sheet
Total assets$3.28M
Cash$598K
Investments$0
Liabilities$14K
Net assets$3.27M
Liquid reserves11.9 mo
5 years on record · 2020–2024 · YoY revenue -92.2%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2024
Who runs it
board members · 5
- LISA THOMPSON — BOARD MEEMBER
- REGINALD MARTIN CRENSHAW — CHAIR
- SHERWOOD PHIFER — BOARD MEMBER
- TERYL MICKENS — TREASURER
- YEIN KIM — SECRETARY
relationships · 29
Who they work with
- Brandon Thomas Brown Partner — Featured artist in the Studio Art: Identity in Process, Community in Practice exhibition.
- Chief Baba Neil Clarke and the Pinkster Players Partner — Group leading the cultural procession and presenting traditional music and historical reenactment at the event.
- City of Kingston Government — Provided a Community Development Block Grant for the Burger-Matthews House restoration project.
- Corlita Mahr Spreen Partner — Organization Manager supporting operational management
- Greer Smith Partner — Founder and CEO providing organizational leadership
- Hillary Hines Partner — Staff member managing finance operations
- Historic Hudson Valley Partner — Collaborates with Historic Hudson Valley by referencing its historical accounts in the presentation of Pinkster's history.
- Hudson Valley Gospel Singers & Musicians Partner — Performing ensemble contributing music to the Pinkster Sunday service.
- Javon Jackson Partner — Artistic Director of Programs for Jazz in the Valley
- JazzInTheValleyNY.org Partner — Partner website for the Jazz in the Valley festival.
- L. Michelle Smith Partner — Keynote speaker at the Pinkster Pentecost Sunday service.
- Lavada Nahon Partner — Interpreter of African-American History for New York State Parks participating in the Pinkster celebration.
- Lisa Thompson Partner — Board member contributing to organizational leadership
- Mark King Partner — Featured artist in the Studio Art: Identity in Process, Community in Practice exhibition.
- Medgar Evers College/CUNY Partner — Hosted the founding of TRANSART at its library in Brooklyn, New York.
- Mfouambila Kongo African Dance Ensemble Partner — Featured performance group presenting warrior dance and community movement at the Pinkster celebration.
- New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Government — Provided grant funding for the stabilization and restoration of the Burger-Matthews House.
- Oru Oyo Partner — Afro-Cuban Experimental Dance Ensemble performing at the Pinkster celebration.
- Pinkster Partner — Collaborates on the Pinkster festival, a cultural event celebrating African, African American, and Caribbean heritage.
- Reginald Martin Crenshaw, Ed.D. Partner — Board member contributing to organizational leadership
- Renee Boyd Partner — Staff member leading education programs and engagement
- Sherwood Phifer Partner — Board member contributing to organizational leadership
- Simi Stone Partner — Featured artist in the Studio Art: Identity in Process, Community in Practice exhibition.
- Sisters in Spirit Partner — Music group providing stirring gospel performances during the Pinkster Sunday service.
- Teryl Mickens Partner — Board member contributing to organizational leadership
- Tides Foundation Funder — Provided a grant to support the stabilization of the Burger-Matthews House.
- Veronica Nunn Partner — Board member contributing to organizational leadership
- Yein Kim Partner — Board member contributing to organizational leadership
- Yoko Izu Partner — Featured artist in the Studio Art: Identity in Process, Community in Practice exhibition.
strategies · 3
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.
- Art as Cultural Transformation and Resistancemethodology: art-as-transformationBy using art to celebrate, preserve, and reanimate diasporic cultural traditions — particularly through joy, ancestral remembrance, and historical reclamation — the organization fosters community healing and resistance against racial oppression and historical erasure, because joyful cultural expression disrupts dominant narratives of erasure and reinforces collective identity and agency.
- Culturally Grounded Community Engagementmethodology: culture-based community engagementBy anchoring arts programming in shared cultural narratives — such as jazz, regional African American history, and traditional art practices — the organization strengthens community ties and drives mission engagement, because cultural familiarity fosters trust, intergenerational participation, and sustained involvement in collective artistic and educational activities.
- Exhibition-Based Cultural Educationmethodology: exhibition-based educationBy curating exhibitions that integrate historical archives with contemporary art, the organization makes African American history in the Hudson Valley accessible and relevant, because combining narrative history with visual art transforms abstract heritage into tangible, experiential learning that engages diverse audiences.