Philadelphia, PA - The City of Philadelphia’s - Philadelphia Cultural Fund (PCF) has continued to serve a unique role in Philadelphia by being the largest, solely dedicated funder of the arts in the city. In 2017, the PCF distributed $3,031,772 to support 302 Philadelphia-based arts and culture organizations and programs.
PCF grants provided almost 5 million free arts and cultural experiences for Philadelphians and a total of 439,000 youth attended PCF supported programs either in or outside of school in 2017. These grants are unique in that they provide general operating money to arts organizations, the most needed and rare funding, where the majority of foundations award program-specific grants.
“As the City’s primary funder of arts and culture we are committed to removing barriers to applying for a grant, especially small arts organizations that are traditionally considered ineligible for foundation support,” said Barbara J. Silzle, Executive Director of the Philadelphia Cultural Fund. “Over the next year, we will be exploring with the City how to better serve those cultural organizations that are not being served by traditional art funders.”
The 2017 grantees represent an increase of 18 from the 284 grantees awarded in 2016. 38% of these organizations are small and have an operating budget under $150,000. The 2017 grant cycle also saw 24 first time grantees, 12 of which are established organizations, groups that have been producing work for 5 or more years, and 12 of which are new and emerging organizations, groups that have been producing art-related programming for more than 12 months. For the first time grantees, PCF’s financial support could open the door to new funding opportunities for organizations that are doing critical work within isolated or non-mainstream communities throughout the City.
About the Philadelphia Cultural Fund - Established in 1991 to support and enhance the cultural life and vitality of the City of Philadelphia and its residents, the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, through the combined efforts of the Philadelphia City Council and the Mayor, promotes arts and culture as engines of social, educational and economic development and has played a key stabilizing role for numerous organizations by providing much-needed general operating funding. www.philaculturalfund.org
