Over the next several years Dominican Foundation CULTURARTE of New York plans to expand the scope of our services, improve our facilities and professionalize our administrative and fiscal staffing. We will expand our School of the Arts to include younger and older students, as well as our current youth population. We will implement plans to expand use and improve our physical plant. We anticipate becoming a focal point for tourism activity as well as a tourism destination.

(1) Metarte International Gallery (MIG)
We will expand and beautify the “Metarte International Gallery” (MIG), with improved presentation, space and lighting. Four major International exhibitions will be presented annually, with Local exhibitions in the remaining times. We anticipate displaying Fine Arts of the Hispanic World, attracting major International talent. Local artists, with promising futures will be highlighted for local showings. An experienced Curator, with an Assistant will ensure the quality and continuity of presentations. Efforts will be made to ensure new as well as established artists are featured. Local and Caribbean crafts will also be featured through the year.

(2) Anacaona Theater
We will increase the usability of “Anacaona (Women Native Chief of the Southern Dominican Republic) Theater”, to make this a multiuse theater for plays, movies, poetry, conferences and other presentations and groups. At least three International Film Festivals will be presented annually, to coincide with scholarly conferences on film, art and social issues related to the Festival themes. Four major plays including experimental and premier production of Hispanic, Caribbean and Afro-Caribbean artists will be presented annually. A Theater Manager, with an Art Director will oversee the selection of works and ensure production quality and facility use. Part-time staff will be used to augment their services as needed. Space will be intensively used for local business and social organizations. This space will need a permanent stage, permanent seating for fifty, lighting, sound, video, and video-conferencing equipment of a quality to attract world class artists and business.

(3) Poemalounge Café Trópico
We will improve our reception area to include a small “Poemalounge Café Trópico” for our students and tourists. In addition to food, the reception area will function as an expanded reception/tourism center. Food will feature Afro-Caribbean cuisine. A Café/Reception Manager with three part-time Food Service Workers will ensure an open welcome to visitors and staff. Reception and customer care will be handled from this area.

(4) Camilla Henriquez Urena, Latin American and Dominican Library (5) Visual Archive and (6) Conference Room
We will improve the “Camilla Henriquez Urena (a Dominican gay woman, who earned a PhD in Cuba and taught at Harvard), Latin American and Dominican Library and Visual Archive”, increasing our holdings and accessibility to scholars. A Librarian will guide acquisitions of books of interest to the public and scholars. A Visual Artist Archivist will guide acquisition of visual arts; Paintings, film, sculpture and other plastic arts. Acquisitions will work cooperatively with other CULTUARTE programs to represent work presented in other CULTURARTE venues. We will reach out to scholars, in the University, arts and professional communities to encourage access to our facility. To encourage appreciation of the arts a loan program for our holdings is under development.

(7) Fine Art Graphic Design Studio K3
Establish a fine art graphic design studio. To encourage original production of fine graphic arts, a state of the art studio, with the latest, computers, software, and fine arts printers will be purchased. An experience Fine Arts Graphic Artist will be hired as a Manager, to guide development of this project. Many fine artists are utilizing the computer to develop their art and business. Several promising Fine Arts Graphic Artist will be hired to work with us. An Administrative Assistant will work to handle clerical and organizational assistance for this studio. Lino Press has agreed to explore support operations in reproducing our art and works exhibited and sponsored by us. Gallery Show Catalogues would be produced through this Studio.

(8) Dominicannía Bookstore and (9) Taina Giftshop
Establish “Dominicannía Bookstore and Taina Giftshop” a Hispanic Afro-Caribbean Bookstore, and gift shop in conjunction with “MetaStudio Press” to serve as an ongoing support and adjunct to our ongoing artistic endeavors. Materials in various media will be displayed, produced and sponsored by CULTURARTE. MetaStudio Press will publish materials presented in our programs and representative artists of the community. All of these materials will be available in our Bookstore. The local and Caribbean crafts featured in our Gallery will be available for sale through our gift shop. Tourism items featuring New York, Washington Heights, and participating organizations will be available. Our bookstore will feature educational items for all ages, to encourage understanding of the cultures representative of Washington Heights. A section will be devoted to baseball memorabilia. A Bookstore Manager will oversee operations with an Assistant.

(10) Washington Heights Tourism Information Center
We will operate our facility to increase tourism and serve a tourism center. The former Director of the Division of Tourism Board of the Dominican Republic for the U.S. and Canada, Genis Guzman has agreed to work with CULTUARTE to use our Tourism Center as a center in Washington Heights. This will facilitate tourism buses use of our address a site to stop, and we will receive a fee for guide services. An average of 100 tourists a week from this source alone will use our guide service. Other sources will add at least another 100 tourists a week. These 200 tourists along with persons visiting our site will provide the base for our Tourism Center. A Tourism Center Manager, with the assistance of ten part-time guides will ensures quality and informative service. The Tourism Information Center will emphasize our customs, culture and Washington Heights as a destination. Our Historic sites, museums, bodegas, restaurants and businesses are the attractions we will emphasize. Our people, folklore, music, dance and food are the stars or our community. We will highlight Washington Heights place baseball history, with the prominence of Dominican players such as Alex Rodriguez, Enrique Wilson, Javier Vazquez de los NY Yankees; Albert Pujuls, Vladimir Guerrero, Pedro Martinez, Many Ramirez, David Ortiz, Sami Sosa, Moises Alou, Aramis Ramirez, Rafael Fulcar, Almando Benitez, Timoniel Perez, Jose Lima and Alfonso Soriano, by including a section in the gallery “Dominican Baseball Player Corner”. Up to 5,000 tourists a month will visit us as a destination touring with a National Tour operator. Tourist will be encouraged to discover Washington Heights as a destination, experiencing the unique flavor of our community, and bringing their money to New York, Washington Heights, and our institutions.