Join arts advocates demanding $6 million for the Philadelphia Cultural Fund

City Council must sew up our Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) budget by July 1, 2026. So June is our final chance to demand adequate arts funding in the next fiscal year. Here’s some context, updates, and resources.

How does this year compare?

This year’s proposed budget isn’t as grim as some in the recent past, as when Mayor Kenney tried to eliminate arts funding completely (FY21) and then, in his proposed budget for FY23, slice $1 million from the $3.5 million Philadelphia Cultural Fund (PCF) budget that advocates fought for in 2022. In 2023, advocates eked out $5.5 million for PCF. That June, we rallied again for FY24, when the proposed budget line went back to $3.5 million. Last year, the FY26 arts budget got a little more complicated than usual, but the $3.5 million for PCF stayed.

I feel like I’ve been writing this piece for years. And it is no less needed today. The fight for FY27 is happening right now. The proposed budget includes $3.5 million for the Philadelphia Cultural Fund. Councilmember Rue Landau is teaming with other arts leaders, including chief cultural officer Val Gay, to ask for a total of $6 million for PCF.

Why does the Cultural Fund matter?

The Cultural Fund has outsize impact on Philly’s arts economy. In a world of painfully competitive and restrictive project-based grants, it provided vital operating dollars to 262 small and mid-size Philly cultural organizations in 2025, including BSR, a proud PCF grantee. Dozens of small organizations like ours persist thanks in part to this tiny slice of the City budget.

Arts and culture are key for quality of life, revenue and careers, education, tourism, and violence prevention. Six million dollars for the Cultural Fund (less than one percent of the total proposed budget) is peanuts, especially compared to $943 million for policing (nearly 17 percent of the budget). Six million, if we can achieve that, is a sliver of what Philly’s arts community deserves, especially since the arts drive $3.3 billion in economic impact annually in Philadelphia.

Major action items

This week is a big one for local arts advocates.

Sign this petition from Councilmember Rue Landau and PCF in favor of increasing next year’s Cultural Fund budget to $6 million. Call and write your district councilmember and At-Large members about this. Call and write your district councilmember and At-Large members and urge them to fund PCF.

Did you know there’s also a campaign to make Creative Philadelphia a permanent office, instead of battling to keep it running year by year? This would bring vital stability to Philly arts advocacy. On Thursday, June 4 at 10am, City Council is scheduled to hold the final vote that would put this question to voters in November. The Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance (GPCA) urges supporters to arrive early and head to City Hall Room 400. Make or print a sign or grab some that will be available onsite, and show City Council your support for making Creative PHL a permanent office. If you want to keep informed on action items like this, join the GPCA advocacy updates mailing list.

This Thursday is also a big day for anyone following our reporting on major changes to the arts funding landscape in Pennsylvania. At 9am, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) will hold a special online meeting (register here) to vote on a proposed change that would create a grant for organizations with budgets under $100,000 who are currently shut out by recent policy changes at PCA. Register to make a public comment during the meeting by emailing Laura Kline ([email protected]), or simply attend the meeting to stay informed and show your support. Join the Restoring Opportunities for Artists & Residents (ROAR) campaign mailing list to follow these state-level arts actions.

At the nexus of cruel policies

Philly’s arts workers are facing unprecedented challenges: censorship and claw-backs at the federal level, major state-level cuts, and the cruel convergence of other policies that are hostile to freelancers—and most artists are independent workers. Congress has slashed support for ACA subsidies, putting health insurance out of reach for many creative-sector workers, and the sudden end of Philly’s BIRT tax exemption for independent contractors and small businesses making less than $100,000 a year is crushing many local artists (to take action, join the LIFT Coalition and sign its petition). Meanwhile, the cost of living is soaring.

In this climate, City support for the cultural sector has only become more urgent.

City leaders speak

“Federal and state governments step back. We step up and step forward,” Councilmember Rue Landau promised at an April 27 City Hall event that brought leaders from PCF, GPCA, Creative PHL, and CultureWorks Greater Philadelphia together with PCF grantees.

Philly is not competitive as an international destination without arts and culture, GPCA president and CEO Patricia Wilson Aden said. She is mindful of the many challenges facing the architects of our city budget, she added, but the $6 million advocates are calling for now “is by no means sufficient.” Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, a board member of PCF, said he’s grateful for Mayor Parker’s existing support, but “we know we need more … every time we invest [in the arts], the investment returns to us tenfold.”

CultureWorks co-executive director Ariel Shelton was even more direct: “In 10 years, I want to see that money tripled,” she said of the PCF budget.

The power is ours

Obsessing over national politics is easy. But our real power lies in local politics. Speaking up for the arts is a tangible way to support workers, build intercultural solidarity, improve our city, and stand for free speech. If you value BSR, that's reason enough on its own to speak up for boosting the Cultural Fund. Instead of getting worn down by year after year of advocacy, we’re building our muscles. We’ll make our voices heard this and every year.

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