May 17, 2006 Edition
Cultural Institutions Eye New Philanthropic Source: Law Students
BY GABRIELLE BIRKNER – Staff Reporter of the Sun
May 17, 2006
City museums and other cultural institutions are looking for philanthropic dollars from an unlikely source: law students.
Prestigious New York law firms are famous for wining and dining their summer associates. These days, such name-brand arts organizations as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York City Ballet, and the Film Society of Lincoln Center are joining them in courting these associates. They are offering free tickets to performances and lectures, as well as invitations to glitzy arts galas generally reserved for big donors.
It’s part of Summer Arts Circle, which was just launched to introduce soon-to-be lawyers to the city’s fine arts scene. So far, six firms, including Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Sullivan & Cromwell, have signed up more than 300 summer associates. They are paying Summer Arts Circle $375 a person. The arts institutions receive no compensation.
For law firms, the Summer Arts Circle is a recruiting tool; for arts groups, it’s a way to cultivate a new generation of patrons, its founder, Kianga Ellis, said. “Cultural organizations definitely want to expand their reach and expand their influence beyond the socialite set and their friends, and they’re looking to young professionals who have strong earning potential,” Ms. Ellis, 32, a former assistant general counsel at Goldman Sachs, said.
She left the investment bank about a year ago to establish Avail Arts, which develops programs to recruit young arts patrons. “We want them to understand the importance art plays in our society,” she said. “We’re saying, ‘You are going to be part of a privileged class, and should think about using some of your resources to support the arts.’”
For Arts Circle participants, New York City Ballet is hosting a behind-the-scenes tour of its rehearsal studio and a day-trip to Saratoga Springs, N.Y., to see “Swan Lake.” “It’s a great first, or temporary, exposure to the arts, and we hope they’ll come back on their own,” the development director of the ballet company, Kacey Foster, said.
A first year law student at the University of Pennsylvania, Eli Isak, 23, said he’d welcome the chance to attend film screenings and gallery openings and events, while working at a law firm in New York this summer. “I think it’s helpful to show the associates what goes on beyond their cubicle,” he said. “For me, especially coming from an out-of-town school, gaining a perspective on the cultural life in New York would be very valuable.”
Still, Mr. Isak said, the idea of being pursued because of his potential giving capacity makes him a little uneasy. “To know that you’re being eyed as fresh meat is troubling to say the least,” he said. “I guess you have to weigh that against what you’d be gaining.”
May 17, 2006 Edition > Section: New York
