CultureWire | December 2024

Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD, Chair, National Endowment for the Arts on stage with Jason Schupbach, Dean of the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design at Drexel University and Cultural Alliance Board member, during Cultural Dynamics: Co-Creating a Vision for Philadelphia, hosted by the Cultural Alliance last month. See more photos and a recording of the program on YouTube. Photo by Ryan Brandenberg.

Arts & Culture in the News 

• ‘The arts have never been more urgent’: Philly arts leaders make case for their role in civic life, writes Peter Crimmins for WHYY about our Cultural Dynamics summit. 

• With a new program that aims to fund Philadelphia's smaller arts and culture organizations, the William Penn Foundation awarded $8 million to the Philadelphia Cultural Fund. Read more in The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

• "Artists contextualize our current events, critique our leadership, and represent the viewpoints of the collective us — a vast array of identities and cultures," writes Leigh Goldenberg, the Wilma Theater's managing director and board member of the Cultural Alliance, for The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

• TKTS discount theater tickets has opened in Philadelphia and twenty regional theater companies have embraced the rush ticket seller’s new outpost in the Independence Visitor Center. Read more from WHYY. 

Updates from the Cultural Alliance

Thanks to support provided by AARP, the Cultural Alliance surveyed 50 arts and culture organizations to raise greater awareness of their social impact programming and services. Highlights of the survey include: 

• These 106 programs serve nearly 700,000 with in-person services.
• 61% of these programs offer 100% free programming.
• 69% of all programs have been running for five years or more.

Find the full Social Impact Database online and see more in the Arts & Culture By The Numbers section below. Additionally, all Cultural Alliance members are invited to join a listening session on January 10 for an in-depth review of the survey results. Further details to come. 

Photo courtesy of ArtWell. 

The Bloomberg Arts Internship (BAI) is a program for rising high school seniors facilitated by the Cultural Alliance in Philadelphia and other partner organizations in New York City, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Boston, Detroit and San Francisco. Interns are paired with local arts and culture organizations to gain paid, real-world work experience while participating in professional development sessions, cultural immersion activities, and post-secondary readiness workshops. Applications for summer 2025 open on January 8! Learn more about BAI and read interviews with past interns on our website. 

2024 BAI Intern Elijah at Tiny WPA. 

Last month, the Cultural Alliance’s President and CEO, Patricia Wilson Aden, joined leaders from across city sectors for a hearing on 2026 preparations called by Councilmember Isaiah Thomas. Her testimony advocated for investments into arts and culture to ensure that our iconic institutions, community-based organizations, and innovative artists have a seat at the table during this historic time in our city.

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Arts & Culture by the Numbers

One important piece of information shown in the Social Impact Database is that Philadelphia arts and culture organizations are meeting residents where they are in the community. 85% of organizations offer programming at one or more off-site location such as a school, community center, library, or park. Read the full report on our website. 

Job Bank

The Cultural Alliance’s Job Bank is Greater Philadelphia's top resource for job opportunities in arts and culture. You’ll find positions at all professional levels in museums, theaters, historic sites, art galleries, dance studios, community centers, and much more. Keep reading for the most recent listings from Member organizations.

Join the Cultural Alliance team! We are currently hiring for a Vice President of Community Engagement and a Creative Youth Development Coordinator. 

• Director of Accounting and Conference Center Event Coordinator at the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, PA
• Staff Accountant at Fairmount Park Conservancy in Philadelphia, PA
• Admissions Assistant and Coordinator, Donor Services at the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia, PA
• Operations Manager at Theatre in the X 
• Assistant Director of Group Sales at The Franklin Institute
• Horticulture, Adult Education, and Youth and Visitor Education Apprenticeships at Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania
• Facilities Coordinator at the Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial
• Consulting Advisor at Art-Reach

Want to connect to candidates? The Cultural Alliance’s Job Bank has 60,000+ views each month. Job listings are free for Cultural Alliance Members and start at just $95 for non-Members. Learn more.