BAM 2017 2 1ANNUAL REPORT 0 7 BAM’s mission is to be the home for adventurous artists, audiences, and ideas. 3—6 Visual Art, 32–33 GREETINGS Community, 34–36 Chair Letter, 4 DanceMotion USASM, 37–38 President & Executive Producer’s Letter, 5 Membership, 39—40 BAM Campus, 6 41—48 7—40 WHO WE ARE WHAT WE DO BAM Board, 42 2016 Next Wave Festival, 8–10 BAM Supporters, 43–46 2017 Winter/Spring Season, 11–13 BAM Staff, 47–48 BAM Rose Cinemas, 14–20 49—51 First-run Films, 15 NUMBERS BAMcinématek, 16–17 BAM Financial Statements, 50–51 BAMcinemaFest, 18 HD Screenings, 19 52—56 BAMcafé Live, 20–21 THE TRUST BAM Hamm Archives, 22 BET Chair Letter, 53 Capital Projects, 23 BET Donors, 54 Digital Media, 24 BET Financial Statements, 55–56 Education, 25–27 Humanities, 28–31 Report covering July 2016—June 2017 2 TKTKTKTK Cover: 2016 Next Wave | Wang Ramirez in Monchichi | Photo: Julieta Cervantes GREETINGS 3 TKTKTKTK Greetings2017 Winter/Spring | Anna Bass, Ira Glass, Monica Bill Barnes in RadioLoveFest | Photo: Julieta Cervantes BAM is about people and values. — Adam E. Max Dear Friends, A warm welcome to the ever-expanding well as our incredibly dedicated staff. BAM is Bob Hurwitz. And BAMcinemaFest enjoyed We thank Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New BAM family! also about its remarkable audiences and the its ninth year of showcasing terrific finds in York City Department of Cultural Affairs, led diverse and vibrant communities that we serve. independent film. by Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl. We also I became BAM’s Chairman on January 1, salute the New York City Council, including 2017, taking over from the remarkable Alan With regard to values, when I think of BAM A hearty congratulations goes to BAM Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Fishman, who served in this role for 15 I think of innovation, quality, and diversity. Development for raising a record $2.9 million Finance Committee Chair Julissa Ferreras, outstanding years. And while I have been We embrace the new; we are a home for in a fantastic gala celebrating the tenure of Cultural Affairs Committee Chair Jimmy Van around the BAM Board for 15 years, this is the adventurous. And we operate in an my predecessor, Alan Fishman. Bramer, the Brooklyn Delegation of the Council, my first letter as board chair to accompany environment of collaboration and partnership. Council Member Laurie A. Cumbo, and If you’ve visited BAM in the last year, you BAM’s annual report. On the last point, a new partnership Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams. We know that our buildings sit in an evolving, took shape in the 2016 Next Wave—the are deeply grateful to our civic leaders for their These are very exciting times at BAM. culturally rich neighborhood. While the Brooklyn/Paris Exchange, in which BAM and wise counsel and support of our mission. Katy Clark, now in her third year as BAM’s Théâtre de la Ville mutually shared works neighborhood is changing, BAM remains president, has begun to build on an incredible by choreographers nora chipaumire, Wang committed to being a welcoming gathering Finally, I want to personally thank my fellow foundation to create BAM’s next successful Ramirez, and acrobat Yoann Bourgeois, place and to hosting a wide range of board members as well as Katy, Joe, and a chapter. Most recently, Katy announced as well as a theater work by The Civilians. community events. We see it as both a great staff which has guided me through my the selection of David Binder as BAM’s Other highlights of the season included David privilege and a serious responsibility to serve first year as Board Chair. new artistic director in anticipation of the Lang’s new opera, the loser, a mesmerizing as an anchor for the Brooklyn Cultural District. legendary and revered Joe Melillo stepping appearance by Mikhail Baryshnikov in Robert I look forward to seeing you at BAM. I hope I would like to recognize outgoing board down. David’s arrival represents the final Wilson’s Letter to a Man, and Kyle Abraham’s it is often! members Don Mullen, David Dangoor, Grant and most public step in BAM’s multi-year provocative dance, Pavement. The 2017 Johnson, Teri Everett, and Jessica Smith for Best, leadership transition. Winter/Spring season was emblematic of their years of dedicated service, and welcome BAM’s values as well, with Caryl Churchill’s In my mind, BAM is about people and values. new trustees Yrthya Dinzey-Flores & Doug riveting Escaped Alone, Cuba’s Malpaso The people that make BAM so special include Steiner to the Board. I’d also like to note Dance Company, and an amazing musical Adam E. Max, BAM Board Chair the brilliant artists whose work we show on the sad passing of long-time trustee tribute to outgoing Nonesuch Records head our three stages and multiple film screens as Brendan Dugan. 4 GREETINGS | Chair Letter Hello! In May 2017, we announced Joe’s Mahabharata, Peter Brook brought its coda, Literary, a partnership program with National hard at work on planning the 2019––20 planned departure. In 35 years at BAM, the eloquent Battlefield. nora chipaumire Book Foundation, hosted Walter Mosley, season and we look forward to seeing his vision he has helped establish the institution as performed the searing, provocative portrait Elif Batuman, and others for dinner and flourish. one of the country’s leading performing of myself as my father. Winter/Spring 2017 conversation. BAMkids presented concerts, arts centers. As executive producer since was anchored by the pitch black comedy movie matinees, and special events for kids We are deeply grateful to our colleagues, artists, 1999, his dedication to adventurous, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, as well and families, including the art and technology friends, and donors for another exciting year. cross-genre performance has become a as by heartwarming South African music- showcase, Teknopolis. And the community Thank you! hallmark of BAM’s programming. Joe’s not theater work, A Man of Good Hope (Isango enjoyed numerous events, including senior only a renowned and respected curator, Ensemble/Young Vic). DanceAfrica, while an socials and films, the BAMboo! block party, Sincerely, but a passionate arts advocate and leader. artistic success, mourned the loss of founder and Everybooty, a Fisher Building-wide party. As we look ahead to his final Next Wave Baba Chuck Davis, truly a one-of-a-kind gem Festival in 2018, we hope you’ll join us in whose spirit lives on. And to bookend a year of institutional Katy Clark, President celebrating his legacy. announcements, we were thrilled to name BAMcinématek continued to champion the Joe’s successor—David Binder, artistic The 2016 Next Wave Festival presented overlooked with its award-winning series One director designate. David’s wide range of iconic artists and some newer to BAM. Way or Another: Black Women’s Cinema, experience as a producer and curator, his Thirty years after his epic production of The 1970—91, which examined the work of dedication to adventurous programming, and black women directors who worked far his collaborative spirit make him particularly Joseph V. Melillo, Executive Producer outside the mainstream. Eat, Drink & Be well suited for the position. David is already 5 GREETINGS | Executives’ Letter Joseph V. Melillo and Katy Clark. Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images THE BAM CAMPUS THE COUNTRY’S OLDEST PERFORMING ARTS INSTITUTION SERVES AS AN ANCHOR FOR THE BROOKLYN CULTURAL BAM Harvey Theater | Photo: Elena Olivo Fisher Building | Photo: Francis Dzikowski DISTRICT Stars by Leo Villareal, BAM Howard Gilman Opera House Photo: BAM Hamm Archives BAM HARVEY BAM PETER JAY THEATER FISHER SHARP BUILDING 651 Fulton Street 321 Ashland Place 30 Lafayette Avenue BAM Harvey Theater Judith and Alan Fishman Space BAM Howard Gilman Opera House Campbell Lobby Rita K. Hillman Studio BAM Rose Cinemas Geraldine Stutz Gardens Lepercq Space (BAMcafé) Steinberg Screen Max Leavitt Theater Workshop Hillman Attic Studio Samuel H. Scripps Stage Dorothy W. Levitt Lobby Peter Jay Sharp Lobby Hillman Penthouse Studio Diker Gallery Café Natman Lounge 6 GREETINGS | The BAM Campus WHAT WE DO What We Do 2016 Next Wave | Ery Nzaramba, Sean O’Callaghan, Carole Karemera, 7 TKTKTKTK Jared McNeill in Battlefield | Photo: Richard Termine BUILDING BRIDGES Battlefield directed by Peter Brook and Marie- Hélèle Estienne, a coda to The Mahabharata; Request Concert (Łaznia Nowa Theater and TR Warszawa), a slice of life set in a studio apartment; Mikhail Baryshnikov starring in Robert Wilson’s Letter to a Man, drawing on Nijinsky’s diaries; and Toneelgroep’s Kings of War, another tour de force assemblage of Shakespeare plays The 2016 Next Wave Festival not only brought directed by Ivo van Hove. performances from afar—Norway, Poland, The festival held a trove of dance, in addition to Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, and France— the Exchange. John Jasperse’s Remains laced art but from creators based in New York and North history imagery throughout his choreography; in America. A partnership with Théâtre de la Ville, Vortex Temporum (Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker) Paris—called the Brooklyn/Paris Exchange— dancers interacted with musicians on stage. shared compelling works by artists from these Shen Wei (Neither) and Jonah Bokaer and two locales: nora chipaumire, Company Wang Ramirez, Yoann Bourgeois, and The Civilians Daniel Arsham (Rules Of The Game) utilized theater group. eye-popping set elements in their works. Faye Driscoll and company unleashed their ids in The season spanned a wide array of forms. In the Thank You For Coming: Play, and imagery evoking first week alone, a captivating found object micro- civil rights reverberated throughout Pavement city inhabited the Fisher (Bridge Over Mud); David by Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion.