PHILADELPHIA – The City of Philadelphia Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy (OACCE) and the Arts and Culture Task Force (Task Force) are pleased to announce that 934 of Philadelphia’s individual artists, small and mid-size nonprofit arts organizations, and small creative enterprises have been awarded a total of $1,500,000 through the 2022 Illuminate the Arts Grant.
The 2022 Illuminate the Arts Grant launched on May 12, 2022, to continue to aid in the recovery of Philadelphia’s arts and culture community from the impact and loss of revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The grant seeks to financially uplift Philadelphia’s creative sector and support disadvantaged communities, particularly Philadelphia’s Black and Brown communities, that were disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The grant also seeks to support Philadelphia’s most underserved communities.
934 applicants will receive a total of $1,500,000 through the 2022 Illuminate the Arts Grant. This is a 45 percent increase in awardees from the 645 awardees who received a 2021 Illuminate the Arts Grant. For the 2022 grant, a diverse group of local individual artists, nonprofit art organizations, and creative enterprises submitted 1,189 applications. 81 percent of all eligible applicants were selected to receive funding. Each grant type saw an increase in number of awardees compared to 2021. Awardees include:
- 861individual artist grants of $1,000 per artist, worth a total of $861,000. 100 percent of eligible individual artists will receive funding, in proportion to 74 percent of total applicants being individual artists. Individual artist applicants were required to report an annual income of $54,000 or less with tiers for income limits provided to applicants reporting dependents.
- 32 small nonprofit arts organization grants of $7,500 per organization, worth a total of $240,000. 28 percent of eligible small nonprofit arts organizations will receive funding. Small nonprofit arts organizations were required to report operating budgets of $100,000 or less.
- 15 mid-size nonprofit arts organization grants of $11,000 per organization, worth a total of $165,000. 17 percent of eligible mid-size nonprofit arts organizations will receive funding. Mid-size nonprofit arts organizations were required to report operating budgets between $100,000-500,000.
- 26 small creative enterprise grants of $9,000 per enterprise, worth a total of $234,000. 30 percent of eligible mid-size nonprofit arts organizations will receive funding. Small creative enterprises were required to report operating budgets of $500,000 or less.
2022 awardees represent a cross section of Philadelphia neighborhoods and each of the 10 Council Districts. 52.3 percent of the individual artist awardees identify as members of the BIPOC community. Amongst individual artists, the average total income reported for 2021 was $23,593. This is 1.6 percent less than the average total income reported for 2019. Also, the average creative practice income reported for 2021 is 27 percent less than the average creative practice income reported for 2019. This is an indicator that the current incomes of individual artists are still below pre-pandemic income levels.
The 2022 organization and creative enterprise awardees serve Philadelphia’s most underserved communities. 87.7 percent of organization and enterprise awardees reside in Philadelphia’s high-poverty zip codes and 98.6 percent serve Philadelphia’s high-poverty zip codes. 78 percent of these awardees report that their staff is 75-100 percent BIPOC employees. On average, these organizations and enterprises have 3 months of cash on hand.
Individual artists were prioritized for this grant as there are fewer arts grant opportunities for individuals compared to organizations and enterprises. Awards were given to applicants from a diverse set of creative sectors including arts and culture venues, cultural event production, dance, design, education, fashion, literary arts, media arts, music, performing arts, photography, theater, visual arts, and many more. The 2022 grant was announced and distributed within three months.
“The 45 percent increase in total applications for the 2022 Illuminate the Arts Grant demonstrates the ongoing need for the support this funding provides Philadelphia’s arts and culture community,” said Kelly Lee, Chief Cultural Officer and Executive Director of the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy. “OACCE is excited to be able deliver this funding for a second year in partnership with the Task Force and Councilmembers Isaiah Thomas and Katherine Gilmore Richardson. We hope that this vital source of support for the local creative sector will continue in the future.”
"We created the Illuminate the Arts grants because properly funding the arts leads to job creation and economic development," said Councilmember Isaiah Thomas. "Last year, we put $1M in this program to help those who were struggling. This year, we've raised that to $1.5M to continue to help those who need support while also working to grow our economy and bring struggling artists out of poverty."
“We see a ripple effect through the Illuminate the Arts Grant where the support of the local creative sector is central to the social, emotional and economic health of our entire city,” said Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson. “The 2022 grant builds on support of this sector by providing funds that create jobs, activities, and ecosystems that Philadelphians rely on.”
Created by Philadelphia City Council, the funds for the 2022 Illuminate the Arts Grant came from the City’s General Fund. OACCE staff along with members of the Task Force make up the Illuminate the Arts Grant Committee (Committee) which developed, reviewed, and evaluated the applications based on the grant’s priorities. The Committee ensured equity and fairness in this process, while also prioritizing expediency.
“I’m pleased with the work of the Illuminate the Arts Grant Committee to support Philadelphia’s entire creative sector, but I’m especially proud of the prioritization of local individual artists through this funding,” said Ciarra Lambert, Co-Chair of the Task Force and Member of the Committee. “By awarding 100 percent of eligible individual artist applicants, the 2022 Illuminate the Arts Grant achieves its goal to elevate the creatives that would not be typical recipients of arts funding.” The other members of the Task Force that served on the Committee were Raheem Manning and Jamie Merwin.
2022 Illuminate the Arts Grant awardees shared:
“Receiving direct funding for artists from the City of Philadelphia is an intensely inspiring feeling. I sincerely hope that this, or an expanded version of this initiative, will continue to be a project of the city. An arts-rich Philadelphia is a better Philadelphia for all,” shared Joseph Ahmed, a local performing artist.
"As we begin to ramp-up our programs to serve our community through the arts following this challenging period, the Arts Center's presence as a voice and a resource for understanding, empathy, and healing is more important than ever,” shared Bill Rhoads, Senior Vice President of Esperanza Arts Center. “The Illuminate the Arts Grant's generous support has enabled us to remain an active and visible agent for positive change through the arts for the Latino community by ensuring stable operations and ongoing presentations of programs that reflect issues relevant to our residents."
Applications were evaluated on variety of factors including the financial impact of COVID-19; constituencies served; location, with a focus on high-poverty zip codes based on census tract poverty data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2018 American Community Survey; applicants who identified as minorities; and applicants who identified at disabled. Award amounts were determined based on available funds for each grant type with an emphasis on funding as many individual artists as possible. View the list of 2022 Illuminate the Arts Grant Awardees here.
About the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy
The Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy closes the gap in access to quality cultural experiences and creative expression through the support and promotion of arts, culture and the creative industries; connecting Philadelphians to enriching, arts-infused experiences; linking local artists and cultural organizations to resources and opportunities; and preserving the City’s public art assets. For more information about the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, visit CreativePHL.org and follow @CreativePHL on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.