Arts and Culture

What We Fund:

Our Arts and Culture grantmaking strategies support:

ARTS AND CULTURE HUBS
The general operations of arts and culture organizations to produce high-quality arts and culture programs and activities informed by diverse staff, boards, and audiences that build community, regional vibrancy, and achieve goals of racial and economic inclusion.

ARTS EDUCATION AND EXPOSURE
In-school partnerships, grades K-6, and community-based arts training, grades 7-12, that provide an entry to the arts for young people and help develop skills that reflect the cultural diversity of our communities as well as students’ own cultural and racial identities.

ARTS PRESENTATION AND ART MAKING
High-quality arts and culture projects or programs that emphasize diverse and culturally relevant work produced in an inclusive and equitable way.

 

ARTS AND CULTURE HUBS

Provides unrestricted general operating support to organizations whose missions are rooted in arts and culture and seek to achieve greater racial and economic equity in their operations and programming.

Eligible organizations may represent any artistic discipline. They must be located in the five-county region (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia), with most funding focusing on the City of Philadelphia, and must:

  • Be incorporated as a 501(c)(3)
  • Have broad national, regional, or deep community importance
  • Generate high-quality work in terms of strong artistic skill and cultural expertise that acknowledges and reflects the participants and audiences

Applications will be reviewed for:

  • A clear description/plan for how funding will help an organization in its commitment to racial equity and economic inclusion through its operations, programs, and activities
  • The role that high-quality artistic programs and activities play in reflecting and building on a shared identity—locally, regionally, or nationally
  • The role that diverse audiences/communities play in building an organization’s understanding of local, regional, or national context; involving appropriate expertise in programming and operations to drive shared power and to share the benefits of the organization and its work equitably

As part of the review process, staff will also consider the operations, financial position, track record, and future objectives of an organization and how all of these relate to being able to achieve its stated goals. (See FAQs for a full list of operational and financial factors reviewed.)

What We DO NOT Fund:

  • Fiscally sponsored projects
  • Government agencies, departments, or offices

To learn more about the process for applying to Arts and Culture Hubs, or any of the Creative Communities strategies, visit How To Apply To Creative Communities.

 

ARTS EDUCATION AND EXPOSURE

Primarily provides funding to support programming; however, some activities may be eligible for planning support. Programs taking place throughout the five-county region (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia) and the City of Camden, NJ are eligible for funding, though most funding will focus on the City of Philadelphia. In any locale, activities should be focused on supporting youth from low-income households.

Applications will be reviewed for:

  • A clear definition of the young people the program seeks to engage and benefit through its work
  • A plan to engage youth that builds on past work or that thoughtfully leverages external expertise and community assets
  • A clear definition of benefits the arts education program seeks
  • Evidence of a plan to provide these benefits in ways that are equitable, inclusive, and developmentally appropriate
  • A commitment to continuous improvement that takes student/participant feedback into account
  • A design that facilitates youth-led approaches
  • An implementation plan that clearly supports opportunities for ongoing, continual learning (e.g., staff time, professional development, learning from other similar programs, etc.)

What We DO NOT Fund:

  • Nonprofits that are not direct providers of professional arts education programming
  • Support directly to early childcare providers, elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools
  • Scholarships for individuals
  • Individual teaching artists
  • For-profit arts education providers
  • Arts organizations without professional teaching artists on staff
  • Organizations without a recent history of at least two consecutive years of programming are not eligible for project support funding, although can apply for planning support
  • Arts education programming in which the vast majority of participants (over 75%) are not young people coming from low-income households
  • Arts therapy programs

To learn more about the process for applying to Arts Education and Exposure, or any of the Creative Communities strategies, visit How To Apply To Creative Communities.

 

ARTS PRESENTATION AND ART MAKING

Provides support for projects and programs of any artistic discipline. It supports projects and programs geared toward greater equity of access, ensuring more people feel welcome and a part of the arts and culture experiences in our region, because of how they are created and presented. The strategy may also provide planning support for projects or programs in their early development stages. Programs and projects must take place in the five-county region (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia) and the City of Camden, NJ, though most funding will focus on the City of Philadelphia.

Applications will be reviewed for:

  • A clear definition of the benefits that proposed work is trying to generate
  • A clear definition of the people the work aims to engage and benefit
  • A plan to provide these benefits in ways that are racially equitable and economically inclusive
  • A plan to engage the intended audiences/participants for the project that:
    • Reflects an understanding of local context
    • Thoughtfully leverages community and external assets and expertise, if applicable
    • Seeks to build lasting collaboration through which decision-making power can be shared

What We DO NOT Fund:

  • Individual artists*
  • Public or private memorials
  • Art projects focused on young audiences and with a goal of sustained arts learning; these projects should review Arts Education and Exposure for potential eligibility
  • Projects that do not pay artists/creators for their involvement
  • Projects that do not involve artists centrally in the design and conception of the projects
  • Film projects that are not supporting filmmaking as an art form or are primarily for instructional or educational purposes

*Individual artists would be considered as a member of an arts organization’s team or project team if funded through a fiscal sponsorship.


To learn more about the process for applying to Arts Presentation and Art Making, or any of the Creative Communities strategies, visit How To Apply To Creative Communities.

And for any additional questions, see if our FAQs provide answers, or feel free to reach out to us.

 

 

Public Spaces

What We Fund:

Our Public Spaces grantmaking strategies support:

PUBLIC SPACE CREATION AND STEWARDSHIP
The creation and stewardship of high-quality, inclusive, sustainable public and community spaces, including support for best practices related to maintenance, programming, and governance.

EQUITABLE ECONOMIC IMPACTS
Investments to enable public and community spaces to generate long-term, equitable economic benefits for neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia and the region.

 

PUBLIC SPACE CREATION AND STEWARDSHIP

Requests for project support, time-limited general operating support, and capital support are all eligible for funding. Public and community spaces throughout the five-county region (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia) and the City of Camden, NJ are eligible to apply, though most funding will focus on the City of Philadelphia. Eligible requests are those that concern one or more public/community spaces that are freely accessible to the public (e.g., hours of operation and public access periods clearly communicated) and are operated in ways that are welcoming and inclusive (e.g., through signage, programming, staffing, and other policies/practices related to accessibility and inclusion).   

Applications will be reviewed for:

  • A commitment to advancing racial equity and economic inclusion, both organizationally and programmatically
  • High-quality, people-centered programs or services as demonstrated by:
    • Experience with, or a thoughtful approach to, understanding and integrating community or constituent needs, desires, and perspectives into programmatic or operational decision-making
    • Efforts to promote accessibility and inclusion, such as physical design, signage, staffing, culturally relevant programming, and other organizational governance policies that promote feelings of welcome and belonging
  • Benefits to Philadelphians and/or other residents of the region in ways that are equitable and inclusive such as, but not limited to:
    • Providing joyful experiences
    • Supporting physical health, mental wellbeing, and community healing
    • Fostering social engagement and community empowerment
    • Enabling the pursuit of community-specific goals
    • Encouraging interpersonal interactions and relationships within and among diverse populations
    • Reinforcing identity and social ties within local communities and neighborhoods
    • Creating equitable economic impacts
    • Promoting resiliency to social, public health and environmental crises
  • A clear definition of the benefits that proposed public and community space work is trying to generate
  • A plan to provide benefits in ways that are racially equitable and economically inclusive
  • A clear definition of the people the work is trying to engage and its benefit to them
  • A plan to engage intended participants that:
    • Reflects an understanding of local context
    • Thoughtfully leverages community and, as applicable, external assets and expertise
    • Seeks to build lasting collaboration through which decision-making power can be shared
  • Credible, realistic work plans and budgets
  • A plan for addressing relevant systems or policy-related barriers
  • An approach for addressing relevant long-term maintenance, operational sustainability, and climate resiliency challenges or opportunities related to the public or community space

Applications for general operating support must demonstrate how general operating support will help them achieve necessary evolution or growth to improve specific practices related to operations, maintenance, and/or programming in ways consistent with these funding guidelines. 

What We DO NOT Fund:

  • Places and public spaces that require tickets, purchases, or memberships to access them
  • Spaces that are primarily profit-seeking
  • Public or private memorials
  • Athletic leagues


To learn more about the process for applying to Public Space Creation and Stewardship, or any of the Creative Communities strategies, visit How To Apply To Creative Communities.

 

EQUITABLE ECONOMIC IMPACTS

Provides support for projects that have clear and specific economic equity goals related to public and/or community spaces, even if goals are long-term and would be realized after the grant period. Work happening throughout the five-county region (Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia) and the City of Camden, NJ is eligible for funding, though most funding will focus on the City of Philadelphia.

Funding could support, but is not limited to, the following areas: entrepreneurship, business development, employment, contracting, community land ownership, community organizing, coalition building, advocacy, policy development, and research/analysis.

Applications will be reviewed for:

  • A commitment to advancing racial equity and economic inclusion, both organizationally and programmatically
  • Provision of people-centered programs or services within the six-county region
  • Clear and compelling economic equity objectives related to public and community spaces, including long-term goals that may come to fruition after the grant period
  • A clear path toward these objectives with an emphasis on racial equity and economic inclusivity
  • An approach that builds on existing community/local assets
  • The strength and relevancy of applicant’s relationships, knowledge, and skill sets related to the grant proposal
  • Demonstrated understanding of relevant external factors and policy issues with a clear and credible plan for navigating them to achieve desired aims

What We DO NOT Fund:

  • Efforts that do not focus on economic equity issues that are directly related to public and/or community spaces

To learn more about the process for applying to Equitable Economic Impacts, or any of the Creative Communities strategies, visit How To Apply To Creative Communities.

If you have any additional questions, see if our FAQs provide answers, or feel free to reach out to us.