On Friday, March 20, 2015, cultural advocates including Dance/NYC, One Percent for Culture, the New York City Arts Coalition, the Cultural Institutions Group, the Asian American Arts Alliance, The Laundromat Project, The Field, Exploring the Metropolis, The Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, Theatre of the Oppressed, Elders Share the Arts, and The League of Independent Theater, joined together with artists in asking the City Council for a $30 million increase in expense funding for culture. Many groups offered dynamic, artistic, or performative testimonies.

Ton Finkelpearl, the City's Commissioner of Cultural Affairs, offered his first testimony on the Mayor's preliminary budget for 2016.