Recipients

MFTA's recipients exemplify creativity. Recipients who use supplies from Materials for the Arts help to protect and sustain the environment by making use of hundreds of tons of materials that would otherwise end up in our landfills. Recipients use these materials to teach our children, invigorate our museums, and delight audiences throughout New York City.

From another perspective, recipients save millions of dollars by using our supplies. We offer a wide selection of items since we accept donations from both businesses and individuals - from a bag of jewely findings to a truckload of props from a movie set. Recipients often tell us that with a little initiative they actually expand their services, programs and events.

At Dixon Place, over 80% of all our equipment and supplies are from MFTA. In other words, 80% of our equipment and supply costs have been removed - allowing us to put more of our financial resources into our mission of being an arts laboratory for performing and literary artists. We are dedicated to the creative process, and to the artists. It feels so much better to give an artist a performance stipend that it does to pay the same amount for a filing cabinet or some other needed, but costly operating supply.
- Janusz Jaworski, General Manager, Dixon Place

Everytime I come to Materials for the Arts my mind is blown. Occasionally they might not have exactly what I am looking for (though they often do)...but there will always be plenty of something much better that I hadn't even thought of. Visits to MFTA have changed the course of some of my work...like when a discovery of colored Plexiglas became central to Symphonie Fantastique, or when a boxload of artificial flowers became the defining, copious, luxurious accessories for 17th century puppet costumes. A visit there is a never ending abundance of ideas and inspiration for an artist like myself where the "stuff" is THE thing.
- Basil Twist, Puppeteer, HERE Arts Center

All New Yorkers benefit from a program like Materials for the Arts.

How do you join?

Becoming an MFTA recipient is easy. Click here to see if you qualify and to begin your on-line application.