Podcast Summary: All Of It with Alison Stewart Episode: Meet NYC's New Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Date: March 31, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode of All Of It with Alison Stewart spotlights New York City's new Commissioner of Cultural Affairs, Diavich. The discussion revolves around Diavich's background, her vision for the city's cultural landscape, challenges facing the arts community—particularly artist retention and affordability—and her goals for making arts more accessible, equitable, and central to everyday city life. The conversation is grounded in Diavich’s hands-on experience in public art, collaborations with city agencies, and her focus on artist-centered policy.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Diavich’s Path into the Arts

• Grew up as a competitive dancer and discovered photography in high school, providing her a vital outlet and sense of community in a small Connecticut town (01:38).
• College at Bard, studied photography and politics. Curatorial fellowship at the Queens Museum in 2010 exposed her to social practice art and the intersection of arts and community, opening her eyes to how art and politics can interact, especially at local levels in diverse places like Queens (01:38–03:29).
  • "At the Queen's Museum I learned about social practice art—how artists are active in their own communities doing really hands-on work to support their neighbors… By being very hyper local in Queens, we were being international because Queens has the whole world living there." — Diavich (02:30)

Art as a Life Practice & Political Tool

• Art seen not only as profession, but as a spiritual and faith-based practice for reimagining ways cities and communities might work (03:32).
  • "I believe so strongly that artists and experiencing arts and culture is like a practice of reimagining our lives." — Diavich (04:14)

Lessons from Public Art Curation

• Public art requires centering the public as much as the art, refining skills in community engagement, cross-agency collaboration, and navigating city bureaucracy (04:36).
• Experiences in projects like collaborating with MTA on public sound installations highlighted the complexities of executing public art (04:36–05:52).

The Public Artists in Residence (PAIR) Program

• Inspired by Merle Laderman Ukeles, who championed “maintenance art” with NYC’s Department of Sanitation in the 1970s.
• PAIR places artists within city agencies to address systemic challenges and foster creative problem solving (06:26).
  • Example: Tanya Brugera’s residency with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs led to women in Queens delivering trusted legal information to undocumented residents via graphic flyers—showing how artists bridge gaps city agencies alone struggle to cross (08:41–10:07).

Artists as Problem Solvers

• The PAIR program frames artists as essential contributors to city problem-solving, not mere decorators;
  • "Often we think about the arts as decorative, but this provocation asks you to think about art as a necessary, everyday part of cities." — Diavich (08:44)

Major Challenges & Opportunities for NYC Arts

Affordability & Accessibility Crisis

• NYC is in an affordability crisis, pushing artists out (18% of dancers have left since COVID). Philanthropy is shrinking, COVID recovery is uneven, and costs for artists and cultural workers continue to rise (10:57).
  • "As you said in the beginning of this segment, artists are leaving. Almost 18% of dancers have left already since COVID." — Diavich (11:28)
• Emphasis on affordable workspace—including studios, rehearsal, and performance spaces—and expanding affordable housing (19:22).

Vision for Equitable, Worker-Centered Policy

• Commitment to orient policy toward "the worker, the cultural worker, the artist, and the everyday New Yorker" by leveraging economic justice frameworks (10:57–12:35).
  • "We have this great opportunity to think about how we really keep artists here, how we keep cultural workers here, and how we keep cultural organizations thriving in a different way." — Diavich (12:16)

Department’s Funding & Equity Approach

• NYC's Department of Cultural Affairs has a $300 million annual budget, the largest municipal cultural funder in the US (12:35).
• Funding split across large public cultural institutions, over 1,000 grassroots organizations, and capital improvement projects, all operating through a lens of equity (12:54).
  • "What we really are interested in is what equity looks like through that lens. And also like strengthening this public infrastructure for art and culture." — Diavich (14:38)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Collaboration and coalitions:

  • "Everything happens in coalition—it's how we get better programs, better policy, and understand how we're working together toward a common goal." — Diavich (16:04)
  • On public/private partnerships: "There are so many things that private philanthropy can do that public systems cannot do. But there's also like things that we can do as public funders that private philanthropy could never." (16:38)

• Care & Mutual Aid:

  • Artists are "constantly in mutual aid... making a way out of no way." Diavich recounts forming CANNY, a 14-organization collective born during COVID that fundraised and shared resources as a model for future collaboration and care (17:45).

• On Hopefulness & Audacity of Artists:

  • "No matter what the conditions, artists will have the audacity to metabolize the world and make the work they need to make. The question is, can the industry hold it?" (20:17)

Important Timestamps

• 00:29–01:23 — Alison Stewart’s introduction; framing the episode around challenges for NYC’s artists.
• 01:38–03:29 — Diavich’s entry into the arts; impact of early career experiences.
• 04:36–05:52 — Lessons from public art, cross-agency collaboration.
• 06:26–10:07 — Origins & impact of the PAIR program.
• 10:57–12:35 — Current challenges for artists (cost of living, artist exodus), opportunities for bold policy.
• 12:54–14:54 — DCLA’s funding mechanisms and history.
• 15:17–16:38 — Making arts accessible, role of amplifying information to the public, the necessity of coalition and collaboration.
• 17:45–18:44 — Care, mutual aid, and resource-sharing as community-building tools in the arts.
• 19:22–20:58 — The creative economy’s needs: affordable workspaces, studios, support for independent artists.
• 20:17 — Why Diavich is hopeful, what motivates her.

Diavich’s First Steps

• Leverage existing expertise within the Department and broader arts community.
• Tap into already-proposed, data-driven solutions and demonstrate the resolve to try new approaches (22:58).
  • "It seems impossible, but actually there's a lot of solutions already out there. It's just a matter of having the guts to try them." — Diavich (23:16)

Closing Reflection

Throughout the conversation, Diavich highlights her philosophy: embedding care, equity, and collaboration into NYC’s cultural infrastructure. She acknowledges that while threats to artist livelihoods are significant, the city’s tradition of bold solutions and coalition-building offers a promising path forward.

For Further Info:

• NYC Department of Cultural Affairs website: Free and low-cost programs, opportunities for engagement, application deadlines for grants (15:17).
• Cultural Development Fund applications open through April 2nd (12:54).

End of Summary