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The attached letter from James Heimowitz chronicles the financial pressures faced by the China Institute in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.  As a result of severe earned-revenue losses precipitated by the pandemic, China Institute is challenged to meet the fixed expenses for maintaining its relatively new space, now closed to the public, in Lower Manhattan.  
Although we would like to be able to support the Institute’s request for $50,000, in our efforts to meet the urgent needs of a number of worthy organizations we recommend approval of the proposed emergency grant at the $35,000 level. The funds would be drawn from the Asia Program’s 2020 allocation. 
The Luce Foundation was present “at the birth” of China Institute, providing a grant in 1944 to support the renovation of the building at East 65th Street, donated by Henry R. Luce, that served as the Institute’s headquarters for decades.  Following that, for many years HLF regularly supported the Institute’s general operations and educational programming.  In recent years, most of our grantmaking has assisted with its exhibitions of Chinese art.  An emergency grant would help China Institute weather the storm at a moment of unprecedented challenge to the arts and culture sector.