Primary tabs

Advocacy Toolkit: #FundPHLArts

Quick Links:

 

#FundTheArts Rally on May 11

 On May 11, we rallied artists, creative entrepreneurs, arts educators, organizational leaders, and arts and culture allies at Philadelphia’s City Hall to call for greater and necessary public investment in the City’s creative economy, especially in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The #FundPHLArts Rally highlighted the city’s vibrant and diverse arts and culture industry. We are calling for the City of Philadelphia to increase its total budget support for arts and culture in FY2023 by $6.2 million, which would bring total City support for the industry to $14.7 million or .26 percent of the proposed $5.61 billion budget. Watch the Rally: 

PERFORMERS & ARTISTS

SPEAKERS

  • Patricia Wilson Aden, President & CEO, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance
  • David Acosta, Artistic Director, Casa de Duende; Philadelphia Cultural Fund Grant Recipient
  • Laila Islam, Curatorial Studies Major, Moore College of Art & Design; Second-year Mellon Fellow, Philadelphia Museum of Art
  • Nasheli Juliana Ortiz-González, Executive Director & CEO, Taller Puertorriqueño
  • Eric Pryor, President & CEO, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
  • Akeil Robertson, Mural Arts Philadelphia Guild Coordinator & Staff Photographer
  • Paul Steinke, Executive Director, Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia
  • Ami Yares, Executive Director, Buildabridge International; Illuminate the Arts Grantee

 

Action Steps

Be part of the call for change! With three straight City Budgets in which the Creative Economy has been relegated to a mere afterthought, it’s time to send a clear message about the essential power and impact of Philadelphia’s cultural industry.

Your actions will make a difference! Here are four action steps you can take right now:

  1. Take action! Use our Action Center to email City Council today and tell them to #FundPHLArts.
  2. Sign up for arts advocacy alerts for regular updates from the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance’s advocacy team.
  3. Spread the word about #FundPHLArts and share information about the Rally on social media. Check out the toolkit below for suggested language.
  4. Donate to support our advocacy efforts with a monthly or one-time donation.

Your support is critical in the coming weeks as City Council continues to hold hearings about the FY23 budget. Please stay tuned for updates as the budget process and our response to it evolve. We’ll soon have ways to email, call and tweet your City Council representatives directly.

The Arts & Culture “Ask” of the City of Philadelphia’s FY23 Budget: $14.7 million

This reflects a request of $6.2 million in total additional funding above the proposed budget: 

  • + $1.0M:  Allocate $3.5 million total to the Philadelphia Cultural Fund (PCF) to maintain its FY22 budget from the Mayor’s Budget ($2.5 million) and City Council allocation ($1 million). 
  • + $4.0M:  Live up to the responsibility of supporting City of Philadelphia-owned Arts and Cultural Institutions and Programs, especially those that reside in and serve Black and Brown communities ($10 million total; Operational Not Capital Expenses) 
  • + $1.2M:  Invest $1.2 million total in established Arts & Culture projects/programs that align with the City of Philadelphia's critical priorities: Violence Prevention, Entrepreneurship in Black and Brown communities, and Workforce Development. 
    • Expand Anti-Violence Community Grants to award more to arts-based organizations
    •  Enhance the Business Security Camera Program to include community-based cultural assets
    • Supplement successful Commonwealth of Pennsylvania arts and culture grant programs

 

What’s at stake?

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted organizations in Philadelphia and our region, and they’ve still not returned to normal operations. As of November 2021, the sector was still down by 8,400 jobs, organizational revenue was down by 26 percent, and 81 percent of all organizations were only working at a reduced or modified capacity. (Source: Fall 2021 COVID-19 Impact Study (December 2021).)

These impacts have a rippling effect on the region’s economy--the total economic loss from COVID-19’s impact on the arts and culture sector in the 5-county Philadelphia region -- inclusive of direct and indirect economic impact in one year is $2.33 billion. Jobs have been gravely affected, too -- 29,000 full-time jobs (FTEs) are missing from Philadelphia’s regional economy as a result of the pandemic. (Source: COVID-19 Impact on the Arts and Culture Sector in Greater Philadelphia)

 

In the News

 

#FundPHLArts Social Media Toolkit

Join the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance in posting on social media about the need for City Council to #FundPHLArts -- it can be a video, photo or something else! Get creative -- highlight your or your organization’s work or download one of our graphics below!
 

Download email graphics on Google Drive

Find email invite language in our marketing toolkit 

Download these graphics to show your support for the campaign:

IN_#FundPHLArts-07.jpgIN_#FundPHLArts-04.jpg

IN_#FundPHLArts_Logo_0.jpgIN_#FundPHLArts_Rally.jpg

IN_#FundPHLArts_Logo_1.jpgIN_#FundPHLArts_Rally_0.jpg

 
TAG US ON SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS: 
Twitter: @philaculture
Instagram:@philaculture
Hashtag: #FundPHLArts
 
TAG CITY COUNCIL: 
● District 5/Council President - Councilmember Darrell L. Clark @Darrell_Clarke
● District 1/Deputy Majority Whip - Councilmember Mark Squilla @CMMarkSquilla
● District 2 - Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson @CouncilmemberKJ
● District 3 - Councilmember Jamie Gauthier @councilmemberJG
● District 4 - Councilmember Curtis Jones, Jr. @Mr_4thDistrict (Twitter),  @mr4thdistrict (Instagram)
● District 7 - Councilmember Maria D. Quiñones-Sánchez @mariaqsanchez
● District 8 - Councilmember Cindy Bass @cindybassphilly
● District 9 - Councilmember Cherelle Parker @CherelleParker9
● District 10 - Councilmember Brian J. O'Neill @oneill4NEphilly (Twitter only)
● At-Large - Councilmember Kendra Brooks @kendraPHL (Twitter), @kendraphlcouncil (Instagram)
● At-Large - Councilmember Allan Domb @teamdomb (Twitter), @councilmandomb (Instagram)
● At-Large - Councilmember Derek Green @councilmanderek
● At-Large - Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson @councilwomanKGR 
● At-Large - Councilmember Helen Gym @helengymatlarge (Twitter), @helengymphl (Instagram)
● At-Large - Councilmember David Oh @davidohphilly
● At-Large - Councilmember Isaiah Thomas @CMThomasPHL, @isaiahthomas4philly (Instagram)
 

Posts for urging City Council to include $14.7 Million in the FY23 Budget: 

  • Twitter: @PHLCouncil -- It’s time to #fundPHLArts! I’m joining @philculture in asking City Council for $14.7 Million in funding for our city’s creative economy! 
  • Instagram: It’s time for the City of Philadelphia and @PHLCouncil to #FundPHLArts! For three straight city budgets, the Creative Economy has been relegated to a mere afterthought. It’s time to send a clear message about the essential power and impact of Philadelphia’s cultural industry. I’m joining @philaculture and the Philadelphia arts and culture community to provide $14.7 Million in funding for arts and culture in the FY23 City of Philadelphia Budget -- including $3.5 Million for the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.