Let’s start 2023 off with a bang! We are excited to bring you many events this season that will build upon your resiliency, creativity, and spring forth an artful future. Over the next few months, we will have programs that help you navigate the evolving hiring and retention practices; a workshop to assist with understanding and expanding your revenue potentials; a mayoral forum that will give you a voice to influence policy changes; and much more. Learn more about our upcoming events on our website!

As a reminder, as a member you receive special perks with these upcoming programs. If you are not a member, consider joining today! To learn more about membership at the Cultural Alliance, please contact Lauren Gilmore, Director of Member Engagement at laureng@philaculture.org.

Launched in 1945 as a student-run radio station at the University of Pennsylvania, WXPN has become a nationally recognized leader in public media, renown for discovering and promoting emerging new musical talent. Since becoming a professionally managed public media organization nearly four decades ago, WXPN has built a supportive community of members and business sponsors. Through innovative on air and online programming, a robust event offering, and partnerships with venues and cultural institutions throughout the region, WXPN serves its mission of connecting artists with audiences. Learn more about WXPN and how to participate in its annual gathering of music fans happening this September along the Camden waterfront.

Cambodian American Girls Empowering (CAGE) started in 2015 with a mission to create safe spaces for identity exploration in Greater Philadelphia. A global pandemic reshaped the way we look at ourselves as individuals, artists, and a performing arts nonprofit. CAGE is excited to share their story with you and a little bit about how important it is to center joy and celebration.

The Village of Arts and Humanities is a cultural treasure in the Fairhill-Hartranft neighborhood of North Philadelphia, which uses art to envision and generate a thriving community where Black residents are leaders, stewards, and ultimate beneficiaries of reinvestment. The organization is a renowned model for ground-level work that blends art with social justice, neighborhood revitalization, and youth development. 

People travel from as far away as Gambia and Taiwan to visit The Village's Ile Ife Park, the crown jewel of its creative campus comprising art parks, murals, and sculptures created over 36 years by the hands and imaginations of artists and neighbors. Read the blog to learn more about its roots, unique approach to work, and what’s next for the organization.

We Are the Seeds of CultureTrust is committed to amplifying Indigenous voices through the arts. The organization was founded by a team of Indigenous women who are dedicated to honoring Native arts and cultures as a means to understanding Indigenous peoples, the history of (what is now called) the United States, and who we all are as American people today. We Are the Seeds produces cultural events that feature Indigenous fine art, music, dance, fashion, literary, and culinary art. Additionally, Seeds hosts interactive art programs that focus on educating and empowering the youth.

One might think that remaining closed during the pandemic would mean quiet months. But for the team at Please Touch Museum (PTM), it’s been exactly the opposite. There is a ton of action behind-the-scenes as its team works to “Create the Future of Play” for the children of Philadelphia and beyond. With an eye toward reopening in 2021, PTM is reimagining much of its lower level in historic Memorial Hall with a new gallery, a forthcoming Makerspace and a total reinvention of its most beloved exhibit, The Market.  Read about just a few of the exciting projects that families can look forward to in 2021.  

It goes without saying that this is a challenging time for those of dedicated to the live performing arts. At People’s Light, a professional Regional Theatre located in Malvern, PA, their hearts are missing that frisson of live connection. However, they continue to be driven by their commitment to make theatre in a larger sense.  In their mission, People’s Light identifies itself as a cultural and civic center with theatre at its core. Positioned in this way, theatre is the stuff we can create, but also a way of generating space for ongoing civic engagement and dialogue with and for our communities. So while they can’t safely produce plays in this moment, their charge to use artistry and creativity for ongoing civic and community engagement remains. In this article, they offer ways that they have continued to make theatre at People’s Light since the pandemic has taken hold.