New Marketing Campaign—With Art Philadelphia™—To Promote The Visual Arts Announced

City Of Philadelphia, GPTMC & Eight Organizations Team Up For First-Of-Its-Kind Partnership

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter today announced the city’s first-ever coordinated and sustained visual arts marketing campaign called With Art Philadelphia™. The $2 million, two-year campaign aims to: position Philadelphia, Pennsylvania among the world’s great art destinations; draw more and new audiences; and generate overnight stays from visitors worldwide. With Art Philadelphia will launch in March 2012, just prior to the opening of the Barnes Foundation’s Philadelphia campus on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in May.

With Art Philadelphia is the result of a first-of-its-kind partnership among a growing coalition of organizations and cultural partners led by the City of Philadelphia and the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC). The partners are: Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance and Parkway Council Foundation. Collaborators continue to come on board, including, most recently, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, PNC and PECO.

The campaign will tell Philadelphia’s robust story along five themes:

• The Visual Arts Story: Philadelphia’s creative sector is rich and diverse, encompassing a wide range of experiences that With Art Philadelphia will promote. Visitors can see a Barnes-related exhibit at a major institution like the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Gauguin, Cézanne, Matisse: Visions of Arcadia, June 20 through September 3) or the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA and Dr. Barnes, April 7 through July 8). They can check out the work of emerging artists at a collective such as InLiquid or Vox Populi. Or, they can attend one of the city’s popular annual art events like DesignPhiladelphia or Philadelphia Open Studio Tours.
• The Parkway Story: The museum-lined Benjamin Franklin Parkway will be made even more magnificent with the addition of the Barnes Foundation, and the mile-long stretch that runs from City Hall to the Philadelphia Museum of Art will elevate its already-stellar status as a center for art, architecture, science, public art, education and more.
• The Garden Story: Albert Barnes’ creativity was not limited to the walls of his Barnes Foundation. He also had a strong horticultural vision. With Art Philadelphia will showcase the city’s green assets—from the extraordinary Fairmount Park and Philadelphia International Flower Show to the wonders that are Longwood Gardens and Morris Arboretum.
• The Education Story: Education was big for Barnes, who believed in the transformative power of the arts, and it’s big for Philadelphia. With the Barnes Foundation, PAFA, Moore College of Art & Design, The University of the Arts, Temple University’s Tyler School of Arts and the many arts education programs available for children and the general public, Philadelphia serves as an educational playground for the creative community.
• The Philadelphia Story: Philadelphia’s creativity goes beyond the visual arts to include its food, its shops, its neighborhoods and its diverse people—all of which will be highlighted as part of With Art Philadelphia.