Lincoln Center's Boro-Linc Program to Expand in January 2016

Lincoln Center's off-campus Boro-Linc program for families and children will expand to Manhattan, starting in 2016. With this new partner, and another in Brooklyn later this year, Lincoln Center realizes its commitment to host the program in communities across all five boroughs of New York City. Through Boro-Linc, Lincoln Center partners with local arts and community centers around the city to present free performances, workshops, and family-oriented programs by Lincoln Center resident organizations in neighborhoods, working to break down geographic barriers and create greater access to its diverse arts and cultural offerings for all audiences and ages.

Lincoln Center's first Boro-Linc partner in Manhattan is Manny Cantor Center, a community center located in the flagship site of Educational Alliance on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Events and workshops will take place on one Sunday of each month from January through May. Upcoming programs will feature events from Jazz at Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Opera Guild, New York City Ballet, New York Philharmonic, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Lincoln Center's Boro-Linc program was launched in 2015 at the Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education in The Bronx, and later extended to partners in Queens and Staten Island. With the Manny Cantor Center in Manhattan, and a new partner in Brooklyn, The Center for Family Life in Sunset Park, the initiative will reach communities across the city. Boro-Linc will present more programs in The Bronx in 2016, returning to the Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education, and adding a new partner, the Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture. Further details about programs and events with these partners in The Bronx and Brooklyn will be announced at a later date.

"The arts are a right, and not a privilege," said Jed Bernstein, President of Lincoln Center. "And through programs like Boro-Linc, we can help ensure that the arts are, in fact, accessible to all. We're pleased to be expanding and extending this great series with a new partner on the Lower East Side, and look forward to seeing smiles on the faces of all the audiences who participate at the Manny Cantor Center."

"Experiencing art and culture can have a transformational impact on the life of an individual and in the spirit of a community," said Alan van Capelle, President and CEO of Educational Alliance. "The arts have played an important role in the life of Educational Alliance for more than a century. Today, Educational Alliance reimagines out relationship with the arts through this dynamic partnership with Lincoln Center. We are grateful to them for this incredible gift."

"New York City is a capital for the arts - but art's true value is in the way it inspires us all, and it can't do that unless everyone can see, hear, and feel it," said Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer. "Bravo to Lincoln Center - programs like this one help our city realize its potential and enrich the lives of all New Yorkers."